A/N: I guess most people get a lot of reviews like this all the time, but this is new for me! I'm so thankful for the feedback, I love reading everyones comments, suggestions and favorite parts! This chapter is the game of truth or dare between Cuddy and House! Some things will be factual things we learned from the show, others are just going to be completely made up. This is the point in time where I tell you I just watched the end of season six and beginning of seasons seven for the first time. Let's just say my mind was blown I could barely stand myself I loved 'Now What?' so much! That being said, if I make a factual error I'm sorry, plus back in season three we wouldn't have known any of that stuff anyway! I don't own it blah blah, on with the story!


"Alright Cuddy, Truth or Dare?" House asked. Cuddy hesitated before making her response, figuring both choices have downsides. "Truth" She replied nervously. House smirked a little before opening his mouth to ask her the question. "If given the opportunity, would you ever sleep with Wilson?" Cuddy's eyes almost bugged out of her head! The first thing he wants to know is if she would ever sleep with Wilson? "No, he's one of my closest friends, that would be the quickest way to make everything awkward between us." House took in everything she was saying, over-analyzing the question to death in his mind. Truthfully he just wanted to freak her out on the first question, but he did honestly want to know if she looked at Wilson in 'that way' but he wasn't sure why he cared so much. "So what you're saying Cuddy is under normal circumstances, no, you wouldn't sleep with Wilson. Unless you were sure it wouldn't make everything awkward between you, if not then you'd jump him?" Cuddy stared back at House in utter disbelief. "I don't have to answer that, it's a follow-up question, you can either save it for my next truth or forget about it. Truth or Dare?"

House knew Cuddy was cunning and manipulative but thinking of a maniacal dare on her feet wasn't her strong suit. He really thought about going for the dare just to avoid the possibility of revealing something he'd rather not, but he wanted to feel Cuddy out, see what kind of questions she would go for. "Truth." Cuddy smiled sweetly at him, which was her version of the cheshire cat grin. "What really happened between you and Cameron. Be advised I may already know what happened and am just asking you this to gauge whether or not you're going to lie to me during this game." Normally House wouldn't be scared, she had nothing. Then again maybe she did have something. House can vaguely remember going on a drunken rant one time to Wilson about the whole Cameron ordeal. She could know something. Everybody lies, but House decided to cut his losses. If he lied on the first question she'd quit for sure and he'd go back to being bored.

"Well you know she left after the whole Voegler incident. She did come back but only under the condition that I would go on a date with her. We went to dinner. I bought her a corsage, which I do admit now was pretty stupid. We went to a nice restaurant. Wilson thought it was his place to give me tips on how to act on a date. When I tried to follow them Cameron told me she didn't expect me to be different just because I was in a tie and we were eating overpriced food by candlelight. She said she didn't want to waste the date talking about trivial things like our favorite wine and our least favorite books. She went straight for the throat and asked how I felt about her. I asked her how she thought I felt about her. She said my being distant and cold to her all the time was my way of denying to myself that I had feelings for her. I asked her what it would mean if I suddenly started being nice to her and she said that would mean I had finally come to terms with the fact that I liked her. Basically there was nothing I could do or say to her to make her think I didn't like her. So I said the only thing that would. I told her she didn't like me, she wanted to fix me. I brought up her dead husband, I threw that back in her face and told her she liked broken men because she always needed someone to fix. We finished dinner in silence and she left very unhappily. We never went out again. Truth or Dare."

Cuddy noticed House didn't leave room for inquiries of any kind. She knew she may have pushed it a little starting with the Cameron question, but she honestly wanted to know more about that. She only knew the very vague details that floated around the hospital gossip mill. Cuddy knew this wasn't the time to take a dare from House so yet again she said; "Truth." Cuddy could see House contemplating what he wanted to ask her. Probably deciding whether it was worth it or not to waste the truth on his follow-up question about Wilson. House smirked before opening his mouth. "What was the best sex you ever had and what made it the best?" Cuddy froze. She knew exactly who, what, where and when her best sex ever was but she wasn't sure if she could really admit it to House. "Well my best sex ever was a long time ago. It was in college and it was the best because the guy was just really different from all other guys I've been with since. He seemed to care more than the others. It was just something special to me. No one else would understand it." 'Yeah, that was a great cover story' Cuddy thought to herself. 'He's never going to be able to figure out who or when that was'. House had a telling look cross his face but it went away as quickly as it showed up. "Truth or Dare?" Cuddy questioned.

"Dare." House said without even thinking. Cuddy wasn't sure what a good dare to give him was. Most things that would embarrass a regular human being wouldn't bother House. The few things that would bother House would be the things regular people do all the time. "I dare you to call Wilson and apologize for the last nasty thing you did to him. If he asks why you tell him it's because you're turning over a new leaf and trying to right your wrongs." House's mouth dropped open. "You're daring me to do something nice? That makes me sound like a complete wuss. I'm not doing that." Cuddy smiled at him. "House you have to, it's truth or dare, it falls right in compliance with the rules." House angrily grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed Wilson's number. He picked up on the second ring. "Hey, House what's up?" House took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm sorry I ate your lunch out of the hospital fridge yesterday and replaced it with leftovers from the cafeteria garbage." House didn't even give Wilson the chance to respond. He hung up the phone and put it on silent so if Wilson called back he wouldn't hear it. "That was just cruel Cuddy. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth" Cuddy said without skipping a beat. House rolled his eyes at her. "You are such a chicken. What's the worst I could do to you with all those rules you made up before the game started. Besides if you always pick truth than it's not truth or dare it's just confessions!" Cuddy knew he would continue to bug her until she picked a dare so she changed her pick. "Fine, Dare then." House must have already had a dare in mind because he smiled and said in a calm voice "Give me the bra you're wearing right now." Cuddy immediately started to shake her head. "No way, that's not happening." House's smile grew wider "Oh but Cuddy it doesn't involve inappropriate touching or telling anyone about this game. It fits within your rules, so either give up the bra or I'll be forced to take it myself and THAT doesn't fit your rules." Cuddy couldn't believe this, she was actually starting to feel better until he decided to dare her to do that. "You'd really make a cold, sick woman strip off her clothing? That's just mean." House chuckled a little. "When have you ever known me to be nice, get to stripping Dr. Cuddy". Slowly Cuddy reached behind her back and popped the clasp on her bra. Then she slid her arms inside her sweatshirt, slipping the straps from her shoulders and grabbing the bra, forcing the bra and her hand out the sleeve and tossing the article of clothing at House. House smiled gleefully as the red lace bra landed in his lap. "Oh Cuddy you definitely did not disappoint, you know red is your color. Does the thong match?" Cuddy wrapped the blanket around her tighter, thankful she was wearing a big sweatshirt. "Shut up House, truth or dare?"

"Truth." House answered still turning the bra over in his hands. He realized he probably should have asked her to take off the sweatshirt so he could have seen this on her. Maybe he'd have her do that for her next dare. Cuddy looked deep in thought across the couch, trying to come up with a question she really wanted to know the answer to. Knowing it wasn't the best thing she could come up with but something she honestly wanted to know, she went ahead and asked. "Why do you hide your pain from us. Us meaning Wilson and I and the team. Do you think we're going to think less of you because you're in pain? It's understandable that it hurts, you had a large amount of muscle removed from your thigh and as doctors we all know what kind of pain that could cause a person." House just looked at her. Of everything he expected her to ask, that wasn't even on the list.

"I don't want to answer that." House stated simply "I guess this game is over". House turned away from Cuddy and stared out the window at the pouring rain. Cuddy looked at him in disbelief. "This whole game was your idea. You can not seriously tell me that one little truth or dare question is going to cause you to clam up and be quiet because if that was the case I would have opened with this one. I didn't want to play but you're right, now I'm intrigued and you can't just say you quit. Not after I had to give you my bra. Answer the damn question." House turned back to face Cuddy, his expression was like a stone wall. "No". He replied staring her down. "How embarrassing could the answer to that be. In fact it's a simple question. Just because you don't like sharing your feelings and you don't like being personal isn't an excuse. The question is WHY do you do that and I honestly want to know. You don't seem to understand how taxing it is for Wilson and I to be able to see how in pain you are, to know inside you're dealing with some sort of agony whether it's just leg pain or something else and not be able to help you because you don't let us in. We can't help you if we don't know what's bothering you." Cuddy was furious. She was tired and still a little sick, mad the power was out and angry that House wouldn't cooperate. A tear or two escaped he eyes while she yelled at House who seemed to be ignoring her, that is until he turned and looked her straight in the eye and started to roar back.

"Did it ever occur to either one of you that maybe I just don't want your help. Or your pity. I don't need it. No one needs to feel bad for the anti-social jackass who is missing a chunk of his thigh. I get up every morning and do my damn job. What more do you want out of me? As my boss that should make you happy you shouldn't care whether I'm 'dealing with something' or in pain. I have my Vicodin that's all I need to relieve the pain. I don't need shrinking, I don't need your help." Cuddy had tears spilling from her eyes now that she couldn't stop as House screamed at her. They've fought a lot in the past but never like this, never over something this important.

"The thing is House it doesn't matter whether you want us to care or you want our help. We do care and we want to help because that's what friends do. When one of them needs something, when one of them is in pain or is suffering you want to help and you want to fix it. You don't think every time I see you in pain I don't feel a little pain myself? I do, not just because I care about you but because I know I'm part of what causes that pain every single day. I'm the one who let Stacy sign those forms, I'm the one who booked your OR room and oversaw them take out a huge ball of your dead muscle. I'm the one who didn't insist on amputation, I let you do whatever the hell you wanted to, just like always. So maybe it was your decision to keep the leg and your decision to take the Vicodin and to be a complete jackass to anyone even remotely close to you, but I still blame myself for helping you become this way. You think you're the only one affected by this and the only one who feels pain, you're not. You're just the only one who can't talk about it.

House wanted to yell at Cuddy, wanted to scream at her that she had no idea what she was talking about. All she felt was guilt, not actual pain. He felt pain, he felt the physical effects of what she and Stacy had done to him every day. But he just couldn't yell at her anymore. Not like this, not when she was sick and crying and just wanted to help. She didn't want to help him because she pitied him or because he was a charity case to her, she wanted to help him because she cared for him, selflessly. It was something he had never learned how to do and truthfully never wanted or cared to learn how to, until this very moment. He could at least start by telling her the truth.

"I'm sorry." He started and Cuddy looked up at him. "I don't tell you and Wilson when I'm feeling pain because I don't want your pity and I don't tell the team when I'm feeling pain because I don't want them running to you and Wilson and causing an upheaval. Showing pain is a sign of weakness. Growing up I got punished for weakness. Cuddy I don't think you know this, I honestly haven't told many people this but when I was a kid my dad abused me. He abused me for anything and everything. If I forgot to take out the garbage, if my grades slipped, if I was late getting home, if I spoke out of turn. He would find insignificant things to punish me for. When I was seven I was out riding my bike, I hit a patch of gravel and skidded into a stop sign. I banged my arm up pretty nice on the stop sign but the worst was the scrapes on both my knees from falling down into the gravel. My knees were bloodied and they had little stones imbedded in them. I left my bike on the side of the road and went running home, everything hurt like hell. I ran in through the back door of the house looking for my mom, I was crying and calling out for her, but she wasn't home, my father was. He came into the kitchen from the living room and started yelling at me. Asked me why I was screaming. I showed him my knees, still crying. He told me that was nothing. Real men don't cry over something so stupid. He told me if I really wanted something to cry about he'd give me something to cry about. Then he dragged me over to the stove and held my hand over the open flame for what felt like an eternity. When he was done he told me to quit crying and go clean myself up because my mother would be home any minute. I had to clean my cuts, remove the stones and bandage up my hand all on my own. That was the first time he ever abused me and certainly not the last. From that moment on I promised myself not to outwardly show pain, to suck it up and be a real man."

Cuddy could feel the tears streaming from her eyes while she looked at him. That was the most heart wrenching story and it explained so much. She didn't know if she should say something or not. Luckily she didn't have to because House continued to speak. "I know I should let you and Wilson in more. I know there are a lot of things I should do that I don't do. I want to try to change, but it's not as easy as it sounds. That scar on my leg, this cane, the Vicodin addiction, the constant pain… none of those things are things I'm proud of. I want to change Cuddy but I don't think I can. That's why I don't share my pain Cuddy, I can't. It's not even that I don't want to. There are days when I wish I could just go to someone and tell them what's going on or what's hurting and make the pain go away, but I can't find it within myself to do that. I take Vicodin to block all that out. With the Vicodin I don't need anyone else, it numbs every type of pain and I can just do my job and move along with my life. But there are so many days when I think it won't be enough."

Cuddy could barely look at him. She knew he was messed up, she knew he was broken, but she never knew how deep this ran. How could she have never seen it? How could she have never seen how deeply this affected him? She needed to say something, she needed to let him know that it was okay to feel this way and it was truly okay to open up to her. Slowly Cuddy inched closer to him, curling up on the middle couch cushion with her legs bent up underneath her, their knees almost touching. "House, I know you see admitting pain as a sign of weakness, but I don't see it that way. It would be ridiculous for anyone to think you're not in pain after what happened to your leg. You can't keep everything bottled up inside of you, it's not healthy. Your Vicodin habit might not be much of anything now, but someday it will escalate. You can't rely on meds to keep you sane and keep you together because that will backfire. You need to talk to someone, you need someone who will shoulder the responsibilities with you and won't judge you on them. You need someone like…" Cuddy stopped herself and let her sentence trail off. She was going to say 'you need someone like me' but she thought better of it. She thought it might freak him out even more.

"Someone like what Cuddy?" House prompted her. He stared at her for a long moment before leaning in close to her face and whispering. "Were you going to say I need someone like you? Because if you were I'd have to tell you that I was thinking the same thing. The only thing is you'd have to be patient with me. I don't know how to open up, I don't know how to share when something is bothering me. I don't know how to let people know when I'm in pain. I'm a real jackass when it comes to my leg, and I'm sure to be a jackass to you when you try to ask me about it. I don't know if you should really subject yourself to that." Cuddy could feel his breath tickling her cheek and she wondered what would happen if she moved in another centimeter or two and crashed her lips against his. Screw being in the right frame of mind, screw hospital protocol, screw everything that's telling her wanting to be with this man is a bad idea. She wants this, she wants HIM. She wants them to wake up together, fight over stupid things and have mind-blowing make up sex. She wants this more than she's ever wanted anything in her entire life. There are only two things stopping her. The first being that she just got him to open himself up to her a teeny bit and this could scare him back into his shell. The second was the small gap between them that with one move could be closed.

Cuddy took a deep breath and leaned in and gave House a soft kiss on the mouth. When she pulled back and looked into his eyes she saw a range of emotions in there. She saw fear, she saw confusion, she saw doubt, she saw surprise but she also saw happiness and that was enough for Cuddy. She knew that deep down if they would both stop being so stubborn, stop always trying to be right and outdo the other they could make a real relationship work. House must have thought the same thing because the stunned expression on his face was replaced with a smile. "Truth or Dare Cuddy?" He whispered to her. "Truth." She replied matching his grin. "Your best sex from college was me wasn't it?" House asked still smiling at her. "You bet it was" Cuddy told him while staring at his lips, she really wanted to kiss him again. "What do you say we have an encore performance?" House suggested waggling his eyebrows. Cuddy continued to smile and she tilted her head at him before answering. "That sounds amazing but it's highly likely I'll get you sick, even if I'm feeling a lot better." House reached out and put his hand on top of hers. "It's okay, you're worth a 24 hour flu bug. Plus I know a ton of doctors who can treat me." House pulled Cuddy up from the couch so they were standing face to face. He leaned down and placed another soft kiss on her lips. At that exact same moment all the lights and appliances in the house came back to life, the power was restored. House and Cuddy smiled to one another as House led Cuddy to her bedroom kicking the door shut behind them, and for now that was enough.


A/N: I could end it here honestly but I'm kind of on a roll. I watched Bombshells for the first time tonight (If you read the first author's note you can clearly tell there's been a time lapse from when I started this chapter to when I completed it). I actually cried while watching it. I need to get the sadness out of my system and write some cute House/Cuddy scenes. I have some ideas for one-shots floating through my mind as well, probably all song fics or fics based on songs because music impacts every aspect of my life. Anyway please drop a review on your way out, you know how much I love them and as always thanks to everyone who's reviewed the past chapters I love you guys xoxo