I am proud to say this chapter's longer! Yay! I enjoyed this chapter and it was interesting because something deeper came up that I hadn't realized was going to present itself. So, that was kind of cool. Enjoy, guys!
Cuddy was standing at the nurse's station and flipping through a chart. Wilson was next to her, sipping a coffee, and waiting for her decision on an invasive procedure for his patient whose chart Cuddy was examining.
House strode towards the nurse's station after spending a good ten minutes trying to find Cuddy. He smirked and picked up his pace.
"Good morning, Cuddy!"
House leaned against the counter, his eyes on Cuddy.
"Shut up." Cuddy didn't bother to look at him.
"My, you're cranky when you're not getting any," House replied.
"What does he mean by that?" Wilson asked, his eyebrows drawn together in curiosity.
House stepped away from the nurse's station and moved towards Wilson since Cuddy wouldn't give him any attention.
"A little bet." House gave a shrug. "Who can last longer without sex."
"Seriously?" Wilson looked to Cuddy for confirmation.
"Unfortunately," Cuddy muttered trying to keep her focus on the chart in front of her.
"Need I remind you that it was your idea, Cuddy?" House was staring at the back of her head, hoping she would turn around, but she didn't.
"My money's on her," Wilson nodded toward Cuddy and sipped his coffee.
"What?" House exclaimed. "She's a sex fiend!"
That got Cuddy to turn around. "Hey!"
"She'll still last longer than you, sex fiend or not," Wilson replied to House's comment.
Cuddy turned to Wilson. "Thank you."
Wilson opened his mouth to respond to Cuddy, but House cut him off. "You're just saying that because you want to get into her pants."
"No, I'm-" Wilson was taken aback.
"Right, my apologies," House cut him off. "I meant get into her short tight skirt."
Cuddy took a step toward House, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "No one's getting into anything of mine. Not until I win this bet anyway."
House went to retort, but a smile spread over his face in spite of himself.
"I think she has you there, House," Wilson said smugly.
Cuddy looked to Wilson. "You can do the procedure." She turned back to House. "Feel free to stop by my office when you've figured out something to say."
With that, Cuddy brushed by him and walked off. House spun around and watched her go. Wilson stepped up so he was alongside of House. He chuckled softly.
"That bet must be pretty detrimental if it can get Cuddy to render you speechless."
House frowned and rolled his eyes in Wilson's direction after being pulled from his stare now that Cuddy rounded a corner. "That had nothing to do with Cuddy. It had everything to do with me letting her think she's winning."
"You bellowed, oh mighty satanic-" House stopped just inside of Cuddy's office. He smirked. "Oh, you're good."
"Following your lead," Cuddy replied, staring him down as she sat in her chair behind her desk.
The brown haired woman sitting across from Cuddy turned. House closed the office door and took a few more steps into the room. The woman smiled.
"Hi, Greg."
"Stacy," House returned.
"Some legal documents appear to have gone missing." Cuddy was still smiling at House. "Stacy had the copies."
"And you felt the need to drop them off in person?" House directed his question to Stacy.
"The drive's not that long," she replied. "Besides, Mark had wanted to visit his physical therapist and show him his progress."
"Yeah, how is Mark?" House asked, trying his best at keeping the sarcasm from his voice, but failing miserably.
Stacy stared at House for a painfully long moment, her eyes darkening with chill. "He's great."
House couldn't bear to look at the expression on Stacy's face anymore, so he looked to Cuddy. She had dropped her smile and replaced it with seriousness.
"Can I speak with you?" House asked her.
"No," Cuddy answered with a slight shake of her head.
"It's important," House replied quickly.
"No, it's not." Cuddy knew she was right.
"And if you're wrong and someone dies, we have a witness." House indicated Stacy, but kept his eyes on Cuddy.
Cuddy pushed herself to her feet and looked to Stacy. "I'll be right back."
Stacy shook her head and stood as well. "No, no. I'll let you have your office. Besides, I need a cup of coffee."
Cuddy gave Stacy a tight smile. This wasn't exactly working out as she had planned. House nearly leapt out of the way as Stacy walked out of the office. Once the door had closed behind her, House looked to Cuddy.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" House limped across the room.
Cuddy stepped around her desk. "I'm playing on your level. Remember Joe, House?"
"Your relationship with Joe and my relationship with Stacy are two very different things." House leaned towards Cuddy. "My relationship involves feelings-"
"You don't have feelings," Cuddy cut him off, showing him she wasn't going to back down in any way.
"No," House replied slowly. "You don't have feelings."
"I have plenty." Cuddy took a step back and leaned against her desk.
"She hates me, you know?" House looked towards the office door as if it indicated Stacy. He turned back to Cuddy and smirked. "What was your great plan? We'd 'do it' in my office while her husband watched?"
Cuddy frowned and folded her arms across her chest. "No. I just wanted you to know what it's like to have someone you can't have flaunted in your face."
"Why do you assume I don't know what that's like?" House sidestepped the wanting Stacy part of Cuddy's reply, trying to keep on top during this round of their game.
Cuddy dropped her arms and exaggerated her speech. "Right, because you're constantly around someone you can't have."
House didn't respond and an involuntary switch occurred somewhere in his eyes, causing a striking realization to cross over Cuddy's face. Each second seemed to stretch on in their awkward silence. Cuddy cleared her throat and moved around her desk.
House lowered his gaze to the hand resting on his cane. He pressed down on the cane a few times before looking back up at Cuddy, hoping the moment was over. She was seated in her chair behind her desk.
"She wouldn't do anything with me anyway," House attempted to pick up around the place they left off. It was a complete accident to change the mood in the room. She caught on to something he never let himself feel. "She's married."
"Joe was married, too." Cuddy went along with his attempt to forget that brief awkward moment.
"But, Joe didn't bring his wife along for a threesome, did he?" House asked.
Cuddy narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, fine. You win this round. But, don't think it's over."
"It's not over 'til the fat lady," he looked Cuddy up and down to make sure she knew he meant her, "sings. And by sings, I mean-"
"House," she cut him off.
House smirked at Cuddy's glaring. She shook her head at him as he raised his chin and left her office, reveling in his win. However, they both knew that single moment between them meant this round was a draw.
