Chapter 16
A/N: Only a week between updates! Wooo! Go me! Quite an achievement, even if I do say so myself.
Now, I was fooling around, and had a quick look at my stats page. Discovered that surprisingly enough, 21 people have put this story on story alert, yet only about 10 or 11 (if I'm lucky) review each chapter. Now, this could just be my wishful thinking, and half the people that get alerts think 'pssssh not this story again, its so shit, why did I make it an alert!' But who knows. So maybe if you're still reading and you haven't been in the mood to review yet, give me a shout at the end of this chap like these wonderful reviewers:
prinnie, moo333, Jojo, RogueButterfly, bostonfan, QT Roo, soccerchick13, GallopGirl, Chromo26 and jassy2009, I HEART YOU ALL!
But I can't blame you if you don't… because honestly, I don't review every story I have on alert (bad, BAD torzi!) But since I updated so quickly this time… pop-pop gets a treat?
Anyway, it seems the huddy action went down pretty DAMN well last chap, so who knows, you may be in for some more… hehehe!
Enjoy! And review!
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Cuddy's eyes groggily peeled open, eyelashes fused together in a mash of mascara and sleep. The blurs between her lashes soon came into focus, and the face of a grumpy and aggravated Emily appeared staring her down.
"Lisa Cuddy, you are an idiot," Emily declared, thrusting a half-full glass of water and two aspirin out to her mother. Cuddy just groaned as she attempted to sit up.
"Take pills and eat food," she continued, turning to the bedside table once Cuddy had taken the water, and picking up a plate of dry white toast and thrusting it towards her mother in the same fashion as before.
"Unless," Emily interjected quickly, darting a hand over Cuddy's to stop her from taking the pills, "you are still drunk."
"I am not drunk," Cuddy grumbled, retracting her hand and taking the two aspirin.
"Well you certainly were last night. If you're going to throw up, tell me, I have the bucket," she added, picking up the old pink bucket from the laundry that they used to fill with water when they were mopping, and showing her. Cuddy just shook her head groggily. Picking up the toast she inspected it, then frowned.
"This is white toast," she complained.
"Pissed moms can't be picky moms," Emily replied frankly, picking up the toast from the plate and trying to move it in the direction of Cuddy's mouth. She resisted and snatched the bread out of Emily's hand, nibbling on the corner slowly.
"So I managed to stop you from doing anything too inappropriate when you came to last night," Emily explained, "but who knows what you got up to before I came to your aid."
Cuddy just let out a grunt and took a few more nibbles of the toast before putting it down, the corner hardly eaten. Emily immediately picked it back up and put it in her hand.
"Keep eating," she ordered.
"I'm the mom," Cuddy protested.
"Yeah, well moms don't get drunk at family dinners and leave their daughters to apologize and try and drag them home," Emily spat, anger suddenly in her voice. Cuddy just looked at her with sad, pleading eyes.
"Just keep eating," she muttered. They continued to sit in silence, Cuddy nibbling and Emily looking at her hands. Cuddy put the toast down again and let out a sigh.
"Em -"
"And where do you get off getting pissed anyway? After all the lectures you gave me and Anna about drinking responsibly. I wouldn't be surprised if we were conceived on some drunken night you can't even remember -"
"- that's not fair -"
"- hey, I don't see a dad around here anywhere, do you!" Emily choked.
"Emily, you know -"
"Yeah, I know. You went out for two months and you didn't know you were pregnant 'til you transferred to Stanford. But that doesn't make not having a dad any easier," she confessed.
"You've never really been upset about this before, you've got James -"
"It's not the same and you know it. I love Uncle Jimmy, but… ugh, sometimes I think this family is just so fucked up…" she groaned.
"Em…"
"Things aren't supposed to happen this way. There's supposed to be a mom, a dad, 2.5 kids, a dog, a white picket fence – the works! Not just some vague semblance of a family. I mean, Anna doesn't even talk to you! Not the way she should, anyway! And it's supposed to be me coming home pissed and you taking care of and telling off me. I told you, mom, I told you the wine was a bad idea, because you know Cuddys can't hold their drink, but you did it anyway! For some stupid reason you thought… I dunno what you thought, but… but this isn't something that you would do. I'm sorry," she spluttered, "I can't be around you right now. I hate to think I'm the daughter of someone so stupid and… irresponsible."
Emily got up from the chair she had pulled up to the bed, and walked out, leaving Cuddy sitting heavy hearted. Emily was right, she'd been stupid, and things were definitely messed up. She'd never intended for her girls to grow up without a father, but she never did find the right man for the job. And far as the drinking was concerned, she didn't know why she did it. Just seeing House sitting there, smirking at her, knowing things she didn't want him to know, just made her mad and want to drown it away. Before she knew it one glass had turned into at least half a bottle.
Cuddy was broken out of her musings as Anna entered the room, heading straight over to the chair in the corner and sitting herself down. Cuddy just looked at her with a surprised expression. Anna rested her right ankle on her left knee and crossed her arms.
"Did you do something slutty?" she asked unabashedly, staring her mother straight in the eye. Cuddy just sat there, eyes widened and mouth open.
"Please say no," Anna continued, with a slight cringe.
"I… can't remember," Cuddy replied, defeated.
"Figures."
"Look, I don't need grief from you now too, Emily's already given me an earful," Cuddy defended.
"Oh I don't care if you're drunk. Go for it, have the time of your life, I don't care. Em's just upset because she had to drive home," Anna chuckled.
"She did?" Cuddy asked with a bit of a cringe.
"No, she actually propped you up in the back seat while I drove. But you threw up a bit on the leg of her jeans, so she wasn't happy. By the way your car smells of sick now," she added.
"Great," Cuddy groaned.
"Don't be surprised if Uncle Jimmy calls either, he was more than a little worried," Anna pointed out.
"Oh no," Cuddy fretted, hating that he was worried about her. That could only lead to an entourage of questions.
"I already called the hospital and told them the boss is hung-over and won't be coming in," Anna explained, trying hard to suppress her grin. Cuddy's gaze immediately flicked to the clock, noting it was already almost 11am.
"Anna!" she protested, "I can't just not go to work!"
"Relax, it's not like the hospital is going to burn down. Not unless that hot-plate with the frayed wires I left on falls off its precarious perch on the shoulder of the couch onto the cushion…" she playfully cringed. Cuddy just glared.
"Not funny."
"I think you need to stop freaking out, and start eating the rest of that toast," Anna replied, pointing to the gnawed on piece of toast sitting on the bedside table.
"It's white toast," Cuddy glared.
"I know, I chose it out especially," Anna grinned wickedly.
"No raisin or whole meal left?" Cuddy asked skeptically.
"Oh no, plenty of raisin and whole meal. That white just looked so yummy," she continued, her grin growing by the second. Cuddy rolled her eyes then shifted around in the bed groggily.
"Hang-over much?" Anna asked.
"Yeah. It's getting better though. It's lessened from a stampede on my head to just the elephants," she described.
"Coffee?" Anna offered, standing up.
"Please," Cuddy replied. Anna started heading out of the room amicably, and Cuddy looked at her suspiciously.
"Why are you being so nice?" she asked, eyes narrowed.
"What, I'm not allowed to revel in the fact that my mother just did something incredibly stupid and for once I have nothing to do with it?" she grinned.
"Point taken," Cuddy grunted, pulling the covers further up around her body as Anna left to get her coffee with a smirk.
Now if she could only remember what she did last night.
00
That afternoon Cuddy sat, strapped down on her sofa by a pile of blankets, watching Arrested Development on DVD. Emily had gone to pick up some food for dinner, and Anna had left the house to "get away from all the self-pity". Unable to bare just sitting down and watching TV, she had snuck into her bedroom to retrieve some hospital files from her bag to peruse. They remained safely hidden under the blankets so that if Anna arrived home suddenly she wouldn't have to quickly bustle around and hide them. If Cuddy was seen to be working when she should be resting, no doubt Anna would switch right back into her usual distant and 'oh right, of course, the hospital' mood.
Anna had been surprisingly helpful and – dare she say – compassionate through the whole ordeal. She'd gotten coffee, she'd put DVDs on, she'd piled her mother down with blankets. It was almost as if the twins had suddenly swapped lives, throwing Cuddy into some sort of parallel universe that she was a little uncomfortable with. Anna still hadn't forgiven her for what happened with Linda, so Cuddy couldn't help wondering that this may be the calm before the storm. The bigger storm, anyway.
She groaned as she heard the doorbell ring. It was probably Wilson, stopping by to make sure she was okay, and lecture her about the night before.
"It's open," she called, tucking her hair behind her ears in a vague attempt to look more presentable. However, the footsteps she heard were not those of her half-brother.
Step, thump, step. Step, thump, step.
She turned towards the doorway to find none other than Greg House standing in her hallway.
"House!" she gasped indignantly, eyes wide.
"Not happy to see me, Cuddles?" he quipped, moving towards her.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?" she deflected, trying not to meet his eyes. She'd done something hugely embarrassing last night, she was sure of it, she just couldn't remember what it was.
"Shouldn't you," he probed back, sitting down next to her on the spacious two-seater couch.
"I -" she spluttered.
"Hangover is hardly an excuse for not coming into work. I mean really, I come in drunk sometimes, so hung-over is nothing," he quipped.
"You do not," she glared.
"Says who?"
"Says me, who would fire you if you turned up to work drunk," she bit, uncomfortable at his invasion into her home and subsequently personal space. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment, looking at each other, House's face saying he knew something she didn't know. And she was definitely sure that she didn't want to know.
"So, how's the memory?" he started, tapping on her head with his fist. She winced at his touch and groaned in pain.
"Oops, sorry, forgot," he feigned innocence.
"Remember much?" he continued.
"No," she mumbled, snuggling down into her blankets in sheer embarrassment, hoping to somehow disappear.
"Tsk, shame," he grinned teasingly.
"Why?" she cringed hesitantly, bracing herself.
"Oh, no reason," he replied flippantly, that mischievous grin still not leaving his face.
"Well if you've come here to laugh at me and belittle my existence, I will have none of it," she said haughtily.
"Of course not Cudsy, my sweetness," he grinned. She glared at him suspiciously. This was not going well.
"What do you want?" she glared.
"Just to spend some quality time with my boss-and-a-half! My cute little coochie-cakes!"
"Alright, that's enough!" she snapped, sitting herself up and sliding as far away from House as she could get.
"What is going on here!" she demanded.
"Why, don't you remember? I'd think you'd remember the happiest moment of our lives, sweetums!" he replied in outrage.
"House…" she warned suspiciously.
"Cudsical! I can't believe you don't remember our wedding!" he gasped. Cuddy's eyes suddenly widened and her jaw dropped open.
"Of course, your proposal came as quite a shock, but how could I say no? Off we headed to a sweet little 24-hour chapel, and exchanged loving vows. Sure, I had to hold you up for half of it, but still, it was romantic," he cooed. Cuddy just sat there like a stunned mullet. House grabbed her left hand and gasped.
"Why aren't you wearing the ring I bought you!" he asked heart-brokenly.
"I'm wearing mine," he added, holding up his left hand to show a tacky purple Hello Kitty ring that looked like it had been picked up for 50 cents at a dodgy Asian market.
"Remember, we wanted to match," he said with doughy eyes.
"Alright, give it up House. That's not even funny," she sulked, snapping her hand back out of his grasp. "I didn't marry you."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
"Because even drunk I wouldn't so much as touch you, yet alone marry you," she spat.
"Well…"
"Don't try and trick me into thinking I jumped you or something, because…" and then her eyes widened to the size of golf balls as images of the previous night suddenly flashed across her mind. She turned a deep shade of crimson before burying her head in her hands.
"Oh god," she groaned.
"Mmm, heard those sounds before," he teased, and she immediately thrashed a hand out to slap his arm before quickly retracting it. He slid down the couch towards her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, and she cowered down in the corner, burying herself under the blankets.
"Go away," she mumbled.
"I thought I was meant to be the immature one," he muttered.
"I'm serious, go back to the hospital. I cannot look at you right now."
But House didn't. Instead, he sat back into the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table, directing his attention to the TV. Cuddy peeked out at him through her fingers.
"What are you doing?" she asked bitterly.
"Watching Arrested Development. I can't believe they stopped this show. I had the perfect tagline for it – 'Arrested Development. The show that's too smart for you'," he prattled.
"House," she snapped, sitting up quickly. House gasped and quickly recoiled, holding his hands up in front of his face.
"Please don't jump me again! No, no! I want to keep my innocence," he cried, cowering away. She rolled her eyes and straightened up her blankets, sitting against the arm of the couch, leaving her legs out to separate them.
"Okay, lets talk about this," she said rationally, opting to look her embarrassment in the face, and deal with it. House groaned.
"Hey, you came here, so we're gonna talk about it," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms.
"So… I was drunk," she started.
"Granted."
"And I wasn't thinking straight. Because I'm not usually drunk…" she explained.
"Granted, again."
"So… I didn't mean to kiss you. It was a mistake. I'm sorry."
"Hey, I'm not complaining," he replied smarmily. She simply glared at him.
"Well it won't happen again," she continued.
"Not ever?" he asked with disappointment.
"House," she glared.
"Fine, I get the point. You were pretty off your face, I have to say. However, I do deserve some thanks."
"Huh, and how do you figure that?" she scoffed.
"I didn't take advantage of you. I could have easily let you have your wicked way with me, but no, I decided to save you from further embarrassment. Though, quite frankly, I don't see how anyone could be embarrassed after sleeping with me."
"Can we please just agree that it was a mistake and that it should never be replicated?" she sighed, taking her legs off the couch and swiveling around to sit properly. House turned to face her and their eyes met, Cuddy's strangely timid, and House's determined.
"And are you sure that's what you want, Lisa?"
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A/N: Funny (but also not funny) personal anecdote – my mum forced me to eat dry whole-meal toast (which I hate) when I was hung-over: hence inspiration for Emily force-feeding Cuddy. But yeah, you probably didn't want to know that.
REVIEW. Please?
Coming up next... Cuddy doesn't know what she wants…