Rediscovery
By Ellie
Disclaimer: I only own them in my dreams.
A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I completely forgot to mention the last time how grateful I was to get over 200 reviews. If you think it's been too long between updates then you need to blame Prinnie. Her review sparked my muse and I had to tweak the story a bit. But you should also thank her because I think it makes for a more satisfying story. Unfortunately, there is no Cuddy in this chapter. But don't worry, she'll be back next time.
Chapter 14
Previously on Rediscovery …
He was whistling a jaunty tune as he entered his apartment. The phone rang.
"Hello," he said.
"Greg …"
House's stomach clenched. "Stacy."
And now …"I suppose you're wondering why I'm calling," she asked hesitantly.
"Yes," he said after a moment.
"I … I miss you," she whispered.
"Stacy-"
"No. Listen to me. I shouldn't have given up so easily. You were scared and so you pushed me away. I understand that now. I don't want to lose you again."
House closed his eyes and waited for … he wasn't sure exactly for what. But all he felt was a sad sort of nostalgia.
"Stacy, I'm sorry. I wasn't scared of starting a relationship. We just … we would have never worked out."
"Open your door and tell me that to my face."
House closed his eyes in annoyance and made his way to the door. He groaned when he opened the door and saw Stacy there with her cell phone to her ear. He reluctantly gestured for her to enter. This was not going to be pleasant.
"Can you honestly tell me that you don't want to be with me? Tell me that you don't ache for me the same way that I ache for you," she asked as she gently laid a hand on his arm.
House shrugged off her touch and stepped out of arm's reach. He sadly looked Stacy in the eye and said, "I don't want to be with you."
Stacy's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head, refusing to believe his words. "I don't accept that. You've spent the better part of the past few months trying to get back together. Those feelings just don't go away."
"I don't know what to tell you," he said. He didn't like doing this – even after everything. "We don't have a future together. So if you want to leave Mark, then leave him. But don't do anything with the expectation of being with me.
He looked down and studied the floor. "For what it's worth, I think that you should try and stick it out with him. Mark loves you, and you wouldn't have married him if you didn't love him. He's a nice guy, and he needs you now. Even if he is pushing you away."
Stacy looked at House carefully for a moment. "They were right, weren't they?" she asked softly.
"Right about what?"
"I shouldn't have left you after the infarction."
House sighed. "Stacy, you did what you wanted to do."
"I thought you wanted me to leave."
House chuckled humorlessly. "You tell yourself that, but it's a lie. You left because you wanted to leave. You were sick of feeling guilty every time you looked at me."
"You were treating me like crap! It was horrible! I never knew what I would be coming home to. Would it be 'Depressed Greg' who hadn't bothered getting dressed that morning? Or would it be 'Bitter Greg' who would make snide remarks all during dinner. And of course, there was my personal favorite, 'Angry Bastard Greg' who loved picking fights just so that he got to yell at me.
"My life had been drastically changed against my will," he said lowly. "And it felt like everyone was just telling me to get over it. Well it's not that easy!" His voice rose as he remembered the pain of her leaving. "I saw the looks you gave me when you had to do something for me. You didn't want to take care of the gimp anymore and so you left. Now you're doing the same thing to Mark. I guess it's nice to be the lesser of two cripples."
Stacy's eyes narrowed. "You son of a bitch," she said in a frustrated voice. "Do you know what your problem is?"
"I'm sure you're about to tell me."
"You love being miserable. I'm here wanting to make things right between us and you're pushing me away again."
"Stacy –"
"Greg, I know we've hurt each other –"
"Stacy – "
"But we can make it work."
"Stacy, I'm with someone else."
Her eyes widened in shock as she took a sharp intake of breath at his statement. She felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach.
"You're with someone else?" she asked when she could make her brain work again.
"Yes."
"In the few weeks that we've been apart, you've met someone new?"
House thought about lying, but decided against it. "I didn't say she was new."
Stacy's eyes widened again at that bit of information. "Not new… It's not Cameron," she mused to herself. "She's young and pretty, but she's really not your type." A bitter smile formed on her lips. "It's Lisa, isn't it?"
House merely nodded, not wanting to get into an argument about this.
His calm demeanor infuriated Stacy. It wasn't fair. He was standing there, cool as a cucumber and happy in a new relationship, while her life was falling apart. Anger welled up inside of her and she lashed out.
"So you finally convinced Cuddy to screw around with you?"
House glared at her. "You do the vindictive bitch thing really well. Cuddy and I aren't 'screwing around'."
"Really? So you think that she really wants to be in a long term relationship with someone like you?" Stacy scoffed.
"Stacy, don't do this."
"No, seriously. Do you really imagine that this little thing between you and Lisa could possibly end in a 'happily ever after', because let me tell you, that's not happening."
"Stacy –"
"Do you honestly think that she'll stay with you after the first time that you embarrass her in front of a major donor?"
"Cuddy has no illusions about who I am."
"Yes, but there's a difference between you being her colleague and you being her significant other. She'll drop you like a hot potato the first time you talk about your sex life in front of some sixty year old donor with a heart condition. And don't even pretend that's something that you wouldn't do."
"Cuddy accepts me."
"Please, it's all guilt."
"Excuse me?"
"Didn't you once say that guilt was Lisa's primary motivation? She was responsible for your leg just as much as I was. She's been keeping you employed all of these years out of guilt and now she's finally letting you screw her out of guilt."
"Get out," he said in a low angry voice.
"I'm right. You know I'm right," she said as she opened the door to leave. She turned around in the doorway and glared at House. "You're not PC enough for Cuddy. She's going realize that pretty quickly and kick your ass to the curb, and you're going to end up spending the rest of your life alone. Good luck with that."
House slammed the door in her face. He waited at the door until he could hear her walk away. He made his way to the kitchen and poured himself a scotch.
He was furious, but Stacy's words had triggered something in him. Not the 'guilt' shit. He knew Cuddy well enough to know that even her guilt had its limits, but having two people in one evening tell him that he and Cuddy wouldn't last was leaving him feeling uncharacteristically uncertain.
He'd been devastated when Stacy had left after the infarction. If Stacy and Wilson were both correct and he and Cuddy were doomed to fail …
He poured himself another scotch. The thought of going through that kind of pain again was frightening. Seeing Stacy had made him realize that, in many ways, he was already closer to Cuddy than he had ever been to Stacy – and they hadn't even started anything yet. If Cuddy managed to worm her way even deeper into his affections and she did end up leaving him, then he would have to go through all of that pain again.
He gulped down his drink, trying to make his brain stop working. Cuddy had just told him that evening that she didn't expect him to change. She knew he was an ass. He needed to focus on that.
"Yes, but knowing you and actually being in a real relationship with you are two entirely different things," Stacy's voice said in his head.
"Shut up," he whispered.
"Do you really think that she can be an effective boss with her boyfriend undermining her authority at every turn? And face it, if she has to choose between you and the job, she's going to choose the job."
House gulped the scotch down and stared that the phone. He thought about calling Cuddy, but decided against it. It was late, and he was drunk. He was afraid that he wouldn't have the self control to stop himself from saying something completely stupid.
He slowly made his way to the piano and sat down at the bench and began to play, hoping that he would be able to lose himself in the music. At least for a little while.
TBC
A/N2: To all those who've asked about smut. Let's just say that I have no plans to change my rating anytime soon. Now that doesn't mean that there will be no RST. I just don't plan on using the word 'thrust' anywhere in this fic. Sorry to disappoint.