A/N: this chapter is a little long but I didn't think anyone would mind! I had so much fun writing it that I didn't want to cut it off in the middle. As always, please let me know what you think.

Chapter 4: A Rain Date

House was woken up on the couch by the sound of the rain pelting against the windows of Wilson's apartment. It was a beautiful sound. House had always loved the rain. Most people hated the rain, it made them think of being cold and miserable. When House thought of the rain, it brought him comfort, he understood rain.

He could barely make out the time on his watch because it was still dark out. It was a little after 5 in the morning. He wanted to go to Cuddy's early, before she didn't have time to get up and out of the house. He also wanted to go early enough to see if the douchebag from last night had stayed over. That would throw a real monkey wrench in his plans. He was a little worried that Cuddy would send him straight home when he arrived so he decided to take a cab, this way she was stuck with him until he called for another ride home.

Cuddy's alarm went off at 6. She kept it set even on weekends so that she had time to get coffee made and maybe sneak in a little time reading the paper before Rachel woke up. She threw on her robe and headed to the front door to get her paper before it got washed away in the rain storm outside. She opened the door and suppressed a gasp as she took in the scene on her porch.

House was fast asleep on her top step leaning against the post of her porch. He wasn't wearing a coat and he was soaking wet. He was under the overhang of her porch but the wind was whipping pretty hard so his jeans were absolutely drenched. Cuddy was worried that he would freeze to death out there so she shook his shoulders to wake him up. She needed to get him inside quickly. She was already freezing and she had no idea how long House had been sitting on her porch.

House finally woke up after about the third shake from Cuddy and he immediately grabbed his right leg and let out a horrible noise. Cuddy very rarely saw House when he let himself give in to the pain. She sat down next to him and placed her arm on his shoulder "House, you need to get inside. You are going to die of hypothermia out here. Can you stand up?"

It wasn't until Cuddy started speaking that House remembered where he was and why. He ground his teeth together to fight through the emanating pain from his cold, wet, frozen right thigh. He didn't want her to see him in that kind of pain, he had to find a way to bury it.

When he found the strength he turned his head to look at her. He could see the affection and genuine concern in her eyes for him. He was happy that his little escapade had softened her up but he needed to get up and inside before her softness turned to pity. Only Cameron fell for guys she pitied. He was trying really hard to stand but he just couldn't do it on his own. Cuddy put her whole body under his right shoulder as he tried to stand and provided enough support that he was finally able to stand up straight. House moved his cane to his left hand and with her help he was able to get into the house.

He was heading straight for the couch when Cuddy stopped him. "Oh no, not on my couch, your soaking wet. You are headed straight for the bathroom, you need to get out of your wet clothes and warm up." House was still kind of out of it but she mentioned something about him getting naked in her bathroom. It sounded like a pretty good start to the day so he mumbled an affirmative and let Cuddy lead him to her bathroom.

When they got there Cuddy helped lower House onto the seat of the toilet and she started running the hot water for a bath. Then she sat on the lip of the tub directly across from House. "Why are you here House?

To be honest, House really hadn't thought through his plan very well. He wasn't sure what he was going to say once he got inside. When he realized that Cuddy was staring at him, waiting for a response he figure he better at least start with the truth. "I couldn't sleep and I wanted to talk to you"

"House, I have a phone! And why wouldn't you just knock when you got here?"

"It was the middle of the night. I, well, once I got here I thought maybe your new man was inside and I didn't feel like getting my ass kicked at four in the morning, especially sober." Yes, he was lying. He knew the douchebag's car wasn't there and he had also only been on her porch for about 45 minutes but he really wanted Cuddy to give him the information he needed without having to ask her.

Cuddy's eyes immediately fell in her lap when he mentioned "her man". She was waiting all week for this conversation to happen and now that they moment was here, she didn't know what to say. His presence, however, made her feel wonderful because at least that meant that he still cared about her on some level but she knew he had questions and she needed answers.

She turned around to adjust the water when she spoke, she didn't want to see the reaction on his face. "Richard doesn't spend the night and he is not the type of guy that goes around beating other people up."

"Doesn't spend the night, huh…interesting" House responded.

"It's not interesting, House. He has a young son so he needs to get him home at night."

"Oh, I didn't mean interesting on his part, I mean interesting on yours. You didn't strike me as the type of women who would use men for sex and then kick them out an hour later. I wish I had known this about you years ago, think of all the fun we could have been having."

With that response she shut off the water and looked up at him a little miffed "I don't use him for sex House!" She yelled that part mostly because she was hurt that House would think nothing about using her for sex. She then realized that he was just deflecting so for some reason, unbeknownst to her, she added in a much softer voice, "We haven't even had sex yet."

House's eyes got huge as he gave Cuddy his 'Oh my gawd' face saying "You're dating a gay man! I mean, I knew you were in to self sabotage in the relationship department but this might be a new high"

"He's not gay, House. I don't even know why I told you that. It is none of your business so pretend I didn't say it." Deep down she knew why she said it, she wasn't that naïve. She wanted him to know that while she liked Rich, it wasn't serious yet. She still wanted him to fight for her.

""yeah, like that's going to happen" House responded.

"Seriously, House, just forget it. Now take off your clothes and throw them in the hall, I'll stick them in the dryer while you're thawing in the bath.

"This is probably why you haven't gotten laid yet" House said while pointing his cane at Cuddy. "Maybe your man doesn't like to be ordered to get naked. Men like a little seduction too ya know. Here, I'll let you practice on me. Strip me naked women!" House opened his arms wide as if given his body into her submission.

Cuddy suppressed her smile. She really missed her sexual banter with House. She wasn't going to let him have the upper hand though so she responded by pegging him in the head with a towel as she walked out the door saying "don't think about me when your naked in the tub. I don't want to spend my Saturday evening disinfecting the bathroom!"

About twenty minutes later Cuddy was making a cup of tea when she heard House's cane moving across the floor. She didn't turn around because she was a little flustered from their earlier conversation, but flustered in a good way. Something about their flirtatious banter always made her blood pressure rise and put a smile on her face. She needed to calm her nerves and remember that there is a reason that she is dating someone else.

House stepped up behind her and said "I know, he's impotent!"

Cuddy turned around to scold House and to ask him again to please leave the whole "why isn't Cuddy and Rich having sex" situation alone. As she turned around, however, all ability to speak had left her. There House stood in her kitchen wearing nothing but a towel!

She tried to remember what it is she was going to say but her eyes were focused on his naked chest and bare legs that were peaking through the towel. Finally, House's voice broke her out of her revere. "That's it, isn't. He can't get it up!"

"House, can you please leave it alone and put some clothes on for Christ's sake!" Cuddy yelled loudly. She was not going to be able to have any type of intelligent or rational conversation with him wearing only a towel. She had to physical turn her body away from him to keep from staring.

"First of all, you stole my clothes so I don't know exactly what you expected me to put on. Unless, of course, I misunderstood our earlier conversation and really you wanted to chain me down naked and keep me as your personal sex slave!" House's eyes widened at the possibility.

When Cuddy actually thought about it, she realized that House was right. It wasn't like he would just sit naked in the bathroom until his clothes finished drying. She turned towards him saying "Fine, here, at least put this on." Cuddy then removed her pink terrycloth robe and draped it over House's shoulders. She could have just handed it to him, but she always felt the need to initiate some sort of physical contact with him…especially when he was practically naked!

She was standing so close to him that he could feel her breathing. House just continued to stare at her. Cuddy was wearing scandalously next to nothing under that robe. She had a very thin pastel blue tank top on as the only obstacle between him and her breasts. She had a matching pair of shorts that left a tiny space between the hem of the tank top and the waist band of the shorts. House could just make out about an inch of her very flat, taut, stomach.

The sexual tension in the room was palpable as Cuddy still had her arms on House's shoulders holding on to her robe. The robe wasn't even going to come close to fitting around House's broad chest and arms. House wanted so badly to run his fingers up her torso and take her mouth in his but this time, the ball was in Cuddy's court. She was seeing someone, and he needed answers from her. He was about to say as much when both of them jumped slightly at the sound of Cuddy's doorbell.

A lot of panic crossed Cuddy's face when she realized who was at the door. Crap! She forgot Richard was stopping by this morning. He had left Alex's favorite teddy bear at her place last night and he and Alex were headed to their parent's cottage in the Berkshires this weekend. Cuddy quickly grabbed her robe from House's shoulders and threw it around her own and then started pushing House towards her bedroom door.

"What? First you want me naked in your bathroom, then clothed in your kitchen, and now you want me in a towel in your bedroom." House couldn't help teasing her in her moment of panic. "You are really sending me mixed signals Cuddy!"

"House, please! I would rather Richard not find a man wearing only a towel in my kitchen at 7AM in the morning. Please, please, just go in my bedroom and be quiet. Go look through my underwear drawer or something, please!"

"Yes mam!" House responded as he limped the rest of the way towards the bedroom on his own. He closed the door momentarily then waited a few more seconds before opening it back up. He was not going to miss eaves dropping on this conversation.

Cuddy grabbed the lost teddy bear and headed to the door. Normally she would have invited Richard in for coffee but this morning she wanted to get him out of there as quickly as possible. She would read more into her reasons for that later. That was until she opened the door. When she did Richard was standing on her doorstep, holding his son, and gave Cuddy the warmest smile that could melt your heart. "Good Morning Lisa! Alex and I would like to thank you for taking such good care of Mr. Bear last night but we were wondering if we could have him back now."

Alex practically fell in Cuddy's arms as he reached for his teddy bear and Cuddy instinctively swept him up. Richard followed his son over the threshold and leaned up to kiss her on the cheek then whispered in her ear "I missed you."

Cuddy looked up at him with a warm heart and was about to respond that she missed him too but when she locked eyes with him, she realized she really hadn't missed him. She thought he was a wonderful man and she enjoyed the attention and flattery he bestowed on her but when she looked into his eyes she felt safety and comfort, not passion and excitement. She tried desperately to push those thoughts from her head.

Cuddy, don't do this. Don't let the feelings you have for that tortured genius destroy the relationship you have started here. Richard is everything you ever wanted in a man. He is a great man, a family man, he will take away the loneliness in your life. Tell him you missed him too. Let him know that you want him to stay in your life.

As Richard pulled away from her ear, Cuddy looked in his eyes saying "sorry I don't have any coffee or breakfast to offer you. I overslept this morning and I haven't even gotten Rachel up yet."

That's not what I was supposed to say!

"That's okay" replied Richard "We have to hit the road, right Alex."

"Grandma and Papa!" Alex shouted and Cuddy smiled at him as she returned Alex to Richard's arms. Cuddy kissed them both on the cheek and said goodbye as she watched them from her doorway as they headed on their way.

After a few moments she made her way to the bedroom to release House from his bedroom prison. God knows what he was doing in there. When she opened the door he was stretched out on her bed, in his towel, and was fast asleep.

Cuddy had to fight the urge to crawl back in bed with him. She decided to let him sleep as she went to take care of Rachel.

House wasn't really sleeping, he had hobbled back to the bed so Cuddy wouldn't catch him eavesdropping on her conversation. However, when he laid down and closed his eyes realized how tired he really was. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep last night and most of that was on Cuddy's front porch freezing to death so he lifted up her covers, lost the towel, and helped himself to a long nap, naked, in Cuddy's bed.