Where we left off:

Exhaling through his nose, House set his drink down on the bar before limping forward and closing his fingers around his girlfriend's upper arm.

"We're going for a walk," he said gruffly, pulling her away from the heated argument as Kate, Matt and a group of onlookers stood around, gawking silently at him.

"What? Greg! No!" Cuddy told him, furiously, trying to wrench her arm out of his grasp, but was unsuccessful due to his powerful talon-like grip around her bare arm. "Stop it, Greg. You're hurting me!"

Ignoring her, House snarled at Kate, who stood there, gaping at him as were many people. "You two can finish having a go at one another later after we come back…oh, and Matt, nice to meet you by the way..."

Lisa Cuddy's head snapped around to glare at him so fast that House flinched. Matt, Kate's boyfriend, simply stood there, wordlessly.

Without saying another word to anyone, House limped towards the double doors of the clinic, pushing his way through the masses of people, as the fingers of his left hand were still gripped tightly around Cuddy's right upper arm, and his right hand gripping the handle of his cane as he continued to make his way through the clinic and into Lisa Cuddy's office.

...

Enjoy the rest!

Chapter 44 (Part One):

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Cuddy demanded, once House had loosened his grip enough so that she could pull her arm out of his grasp and was able to spin around and face him, her eyes blazing ferociously.

Saying nothing just yet, House finished closing the door to Cuddy's office before turning around and facing her; somewhat surprised that she chose to use that choice of words.

"More like what's wrong with you?" he demanded. "Have you lost all respect for who you are out there, Lisa?" he shot at her, as he gestured riotously with the hand that wasn't grasping his cane.

"ME?" Cuddy roared, staring at him wildly, "Who the hell do you think YOU are? You think you can just go up to someone and start patronizing them for everything that they might have or have not done to you?" She tore her eyes away from him as she started pacing back and forth in front of her desk.

"And, after I defended you?...after I - I - I embarrassed myself in front of you, in front of my employees'?" she demanded, her eyes peeled to the floor and her voice getting more heated and louder with every word she spoke.

Chuckling softly in disgust, she stopped pacing and faced him, finally bringing her eyes up to his face. "You have NO right, NO right, to tell me that I've lost respect for who I am," she continued, in a dangerously low voice.

House stayed silent, staring at the woman in front of him. A million things were running through his head at about a hundred miles an hour, as to what he wanted to do or say, but words escaped him as he stood there, looking at Cuddy, whose cheeks and neck were slightly flushed as a result of the anger raging within her.

"I could have let you and Kate duke it out in front of everyone, but I didn't," stressed Cuddy. "And, you would have decked her if I hadn't stopped you," she pointed out.

"No I wouldn't have," House interjected.

Giving a small snort of disgust, Cuddy turned her back on him in sheer aggravation and walked towards the window by her desk, as she stared out at the darkened night sky.

House kept his eyes on her back as he stayed where he was. After about thirty seconds, he exhaled quietly through his nose and began to limp over to the window towards her.

Tentatively reaching out his hand, he touched her shoulder, but she refused to neither turn around nor acknowledge him.

"Lisa."

No response; she just kept staring out the window, refusing to give any acknowledgement to him.

Stepping beside her, House didn't say anything for a second. Taking a breath, he said gruffly, "I don't know what I did for her not to like me."

"Me either," Cuddy admitted in a soft whisper.

Leaning his cane on the edge of her desk, House wrapped his arm around her, to which she welcomed and leaned in towards his warm embrace.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear before moving his lips to graze the side of her neck. Moving his hands to her waist, he slid one hand forward to rest on her belly.

"Oh!" Cuddy suddenly exclaimed in surprise, bringing her hand to rest on her stomach as she felt a rather unexpected strong kick from her son within her womb.

House smirked as he moved his hand to rest on top of hers. "Looks like we got ourselves a kicker, Dr. Cuddy…"

She laughed. "Yes, we do, don't we, Dr. House?" she teased back at him with an air of familiarity that they both were used to.

Caressing the side of his face with her palm, she looked into his eyes. "I know you were trying to stand up for yourself back there, and that's what I love about you," she told him sincerely, "…It's just…," she exhaled slowly, "Kate doesn't know when to stop, and she was being egged on…you both were…"

She was interrupted when House lowered his head down and caught her lips in a soft, lingering kiss. When they broke apart, Cuddy exhaled slowly and closed her eyes.

Letting herself relax, she rested her cheek against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his back and breathed in the scent of his cologne.

"You're upset," House deduced, as he stared at the woman whom he called his oldest friend and lover, while his index finger was absentmindedly stroking the cheek that wasn't resting against his shoulder, "…and you're stressed," he added.

"When am I not stressed?" she muttered, more to herself than to him.

"You really think I would have the guts to punch my girlfriend's sister?" House interjected, thinking it best not to just yet address the last thing she had just said.

Cuddy chuckled as she slowly picked her head up to look at him. "Wouldn't put it past you," she joked.

"Seriously?" he remarked, curiously.

Cuddy shrugged and then grinned wickedly, saying nothing.

"Doctor Cuddy, you are so evil," House told her, with a matching wicked grin of his own.

She reached up with her hand and placed it on his cheek. "You like it," she said coyly. Standing up on her tiptoes, she slipped an arm behind his neck as her lips wasted no time in connecting with his own.

Once they broke apart, House pulled back and gazed into her eyes and waited until he had her full attention.

"You need to relax," he told her quietly.

"I know," she said, just as quietly, as she looked directly into his mesmerizing icy blue eyes.

Leaning forward, House rested his forehead against hers as he moved his hand up to push a stray piece of hair away from her face. "It's not good for you or him," he whispered, rubbing her belly with his other hand.

Cuddy closed her eyes and exhaled. "I know," she repeated, opening her eyes again a second later.

"And for starters, don't worry about me," joked House as he lifted her chin with his forefinger and thumb to enable her to look at him.

"That's half my job right there," Cuddy chuckled softly as she let her eyes traveled swiftly and silently over his facial features.

Before House could respond, a loud clearing of a throat interrupted them both. Both House and Cuddy looked towards the sound and saw Katherine Cuddy standing there, looking rather uncomfortable.
Immediately untangling herself from House's embrace, Lisa Cuddy drew her shoulders back. "Yes?" she addressed her sister in a crisp tone.

"I want to talk to you for a minute, Lisa," Kate said rather quickly as she advanced further into her sister's office. "Alone," she stressed, as she glanced at House out of the corner of her eye, who rolled his eyes at this request.

"Fine," Cuddy said, after a few seconds. Looking at House, she told him to leave for a few minutes.

Grumbling, House rolled his eyes again. As he accepted his cane from her, he whispered in her ear.

"Don't lose your temper." And with giving a curt nod of courtesy to Kate, he limped out of the office.

As he pushed open the doors that led out of Cuddy's outer office, House glanced back and saw Kate's lips moving, while her sister simply stood there, listening with her arms folded across her chest.

He watched as Lisa gestured over to the couch that sat diagonal to her desk, and Kate followed her, sitting down diagonally across from one another.

Tearing his eyes away from the scene before him, House continued his way back through the clinic and into the main lobby, where he was met by Allison Cameron, who stopped him hurriedly.

"Hey, everything okay?" she asked quickly with a concerned expression on her face, "I heard something went on between you and Lisa's sister…"

House cut her off as he pushed his way past her. "Everything's fine," he said, rather impatiently.

She fell in step beside him as he made his way over to the bar, while ignoring all the looks people were giving the two of them as they walked by.

"House, I heard you almost got into a fist fight!" she exclaimed, as they stopped at the bar.

"Johnny Walker black on the rocks... make it a light one," House told the bartender before turning to his employee. "So what if I did? She was pissing me off," he replied coyly, as if it meant nothing.

At this, Cameron threw her hands up in the air. "House, you can't just come close to punching someone just because they are 'pissing you off'," she exclaimed at him.
House took a slow sip of his scotch that he just received from the bartender. "I didn't actually punch her," he reminisced.

"That's not the point!" Cameron scoffed at him, "and you probably would have if Lisa hadn't stopped you," she finished out.

Looking over at his employee, House set his drink down before addressing Cameron. "Can we talk about something else? I'm getting rather bored with this conversation," he told her. "Although let's stay away from the topic of Peruvian hookers."

Rolling her eyes at his pathetic request, Cameron turned away from him, ready to walk away, when she suddenly turned back to face him.

"I don't know what happened between you and Lisa's sister and frankly, I don't want to know because it's none of my business, but House, just remember, your actions place ten times the amount of stress on Lisa and your unborn son."

And without waiting for a reply, Cameron turned on her heel and walked away towards the direction to where Foreman was standing, engrossed in a conversation with a Portuguese doctor from Pediatrics.

House watched his employee recede away from him, refusing to let any ounce of emotion register on his face as he struggled to comprehend what he was actually thinking. Clenching his fist tightly around his scotch glass, he brought the glass up to his lips, feeling the liquid pass through his lips and slide down his throat, all while trying not to let the words his employee spoke to him moments ago penetrate through and come closer to ripping him apart.

Chapter 44 (Part Two):

Twenty minutes after he was told to leave his girlfriend's office, House was still at the bar. Cuddy was still in her office, and Cameron had finally left him alone.

"She still in her office?" Wilson said as he appeared beside House at the bar.

Raising his eyes to meet his friend's, House held Wilson's gaze for a few seconds and then snarled, "What do you think?" as he took a great interest in the liquid swirling in his glass.

Wilson opened his mouth to speak to his friend, but instead turned his interest to the bartender and ordered a glass of Pinot Noir.

Taking a sip of his scotch and waiting until Wilson finished ordering a glass of wine, House spoke, while surveying the crowd. "So, I'm guessing you heard I almost punched the daylights out of Lisa's sister." It was more of a known statement rather than a question.

When he failed to get a response right away, he turned to look at Wilson, who had just taken a sip of his wine. Noticing his friend's penetrating stare on him, Wilson quickly swallowed his mouthful of wine before saying anything.

"I saw the last half of it," he told House, "and by the looks of it, you would have punched her if you hadn't been stopped."

"Funny, that's exactly what Lisa and Cameron said," House said, his jaw set rigid as he stared at the oncologist.

"Yea, well, they were kinda right," Wilson pointed out.

House merely snorted. "Well, I can certainly see who's side you're on," he remarked, as he casually glanced sideways, in the direction of the clinic, trying not to make it obvious that he was anxious to see if his girlfriend was physically alright.

"I'm not on anyone's side!" Wilson sputtered out, "What, are we like twelve now? We have to pick sides?"
He paused and smirked. "And House, I know that's probably like the twelfth time you've looked towards the clinic…you're worried about Lisa…"

Turning his head, House narrowed his eyes as he fixed his friend with a deep penetrating stare.

"Here, let me stare at you all night because I'm worried about you oh so much!" he sneered, impatiently, as he took a sip of his scotch.

"Denial, House," Wilson told him as he shook his head, "Complete denial…"

House brandished his cane in front of the oncologist. "Do you want his cane shoved up your ass, Wilson?" he demanded in a low, stern voice.

Exhaling, Wilson knew that the man in front of him was anything but calm at the moment and was deflecting, a skill he knew all too well.

"Lisa knows how to stand her ground, House," he said after a moment's silence.

Silence. Then, "I just don't want this to push her over the edge," House murmured, more to himself than to Wilson, as he glanced awkwardly down at his feet.

Not expecting that comment, Wilson remained silent, caught off guard for a moment. He was expecting a mockery certainly, but not evidence of vocalized fear.

"It's not going to, House," he said, after a few seconds pause, "She knows when to stop," referring to Cuddy.

"The thing is," House started slowly, "I'm not sure she does..." he finished quietly, not meeting Wilson's eyes.

Once again, almost on autopilot, he glanced towards the clinic doors and immediately tensed up as he saw Cuddy and her sister walking towards the lobby.

"Relax, House," Wilson told his friend, after noticing the terse stiff posture that he saw House suddenly possessed.

House was about to answer but stopped as a voice rang out causing both him and Wilson to turn their heads to find the source of the unknown deep male voice.

"HOUSE!" Matt Gomez's deep voice rang out angrily as he headed in the direction of the diagnostician and oncologist, with a drink in his hand.

He stopped, upon reaching House, and stuck out his hand, which House refused to shake.

"Matt Gomez. Nice to meet you," he said, in a way of making conversation.

Still refusing a handshake, House surveyed him closely. "Why'd you come over here?" he asked, bluntly.

"Wow…that was blunt," Matt Gomez observed, without missing a beat.

House rolled his eyes. "Wow…and you really didn't have to point that out," he replied, sarcastically.

"…Here we go…" Wilson muttered under his breath.

"I want to know what happened between you and Kate," Matt demanded, ignoring House's remark.

Quickly and swiftly giving the guy in front of him a lingering once over, House sneered, "It's really none of your business, Gomez."

Matt laughed softly as his eyes glittered. "Kate was right. You are one pompous son-of-a-bitch," he spat out quietly.

"Yea, well, your girlfriend doesn't know shit," House told him, coldly.

Stranding there with his hand balled in a fist in his pocket, Matt was determined not to back down, as he took a step closer to House, who had at least a foot on him.

"Do not," he hissed, his eyes blazing furiously, "do not insult Kate in front of me."

"Oh, so if I do it behind your back, it's okay?" House sneered.

Brandishing his finger in the diagnostician's face, Matt sneered, "I'm done with this conversation…you just watch House, you do not mess with Matthew Gomez."

And without saying another word, the PPTH Emergency Room attending walked away.

As Matt walked away, House took a slow sip of his scotch. "Wow. That asshole has an ego the size of the United States and China put together."

"Why do you always have to do that?" Wilson asked his friend as he ignored the comment that had just come out of House's mouth.

"Do what?" House asked, still giving Matt Gomez the death glare to his back.

"Picking fights with everyone who you come in contact with," Wilson clarified for him.

"I do not!" House exclaimed. "I just do that to people I don't like."

"Psh, yea," Wilson muttered, "which is pretty much everyone…and House, stop looking around. Lisa's fine."

A look of immediate worry crossed over House's face as different scenarios played in his mind involving the woman carrying his child.

"I know, I'm just…" he started to say before admitting softly, "She's been under so much stress lately and I just want everything to be okay."

Before Wilson had a chance to say anything, House continued, brandishing a finger in his face, "Now don't go telling everyone that I'm a big softie now…because I will kill you."

Wilson shook his head. "I won't."

"Because the last thing I want her to worry about is me worrying about her," continued House, as he glanced down at the floor again, silently cursing himself for opening himself up to so much vulnerability.

Wilson slowly shook his head in realization. "This has been plaguing you for a while," he deduced, as a statement rather than a question.

Picking his head up to meet his friend's eyes, House swallowed and stared at Wilson, his eyes penetrating through the oncologist's eyes with immense intensity.

"If you tell Lisa about ANY of this –" he started to say, but was cut short as a crisp female voice rang out behind him.

"Tell Lisa about what?' Lisa Cuddy spoke in a strong voice, as she stared at the backside of her boyfriend and his best friend as the two men chatted at the bar.

Swallowing hard, House's eyes met Wilson's before he turned his body to see Cuddy with both hands on her hips, staring at the two of them, undoubtedly waiting for a plausible explanation.

"Nothing," House said quickly.

Cuddy snorted, knowing the man in front of her was lying through his teeth. "Outside," she suddenly spat out, "Now!"

After setting his drink down on the bar surface, House limped up to meet her. "Fine," he said, smirking, "but first, Dr. Cuddy, may I have the utmost pleasure of having this dance with you?"

Hearing the band launch into Al Green's 1971 hit "Let's Stay Together", Cuddy smiled warmly, placed her hand in House's outstretched one and without as so much as a glance behind her, proceeded to stroll with House out onto the dance floor, deciding just for a little while to place her feelings of insecurity about the man she loved aside as she got lost in his eyes and scent as he held her close to him as both their bodies swayed in unison with the slow tender beat of the music.

TBC... Don't worry, Huddy WILL get past this. Also, you'll see Kate and House have another "friendlier" confrontation (but not for a couple more chapters)

I believe Cuddy had a right to be angry at House for what he said to her, although I'm not sure if that was masking her insecurities and fear into anger...