A/N: Guys, I know how frustrating it is to wait so long between updates, and I swear it will pick up after the holidays...in the meantime...This chapter is what I imagine when House talks about the "one night I gave you--" You guys have been awesome with the reviews, I swear I get a happy every time I read one...Enjoy!

Remember December

Chapter 5

"Wha-what are you doing?" House asked Cuddy as she undid the last button on her shirt and shifted a bit so that her crème laced bra peeked through. She walked across the room to stand directly in front of him and before he could stop it, his hand reached out and fumbled with the fabric of her open shirt.

"Taking a chance," she said. She tipped her chin up and leaned toward him. She kissed him again, wrapping an arm around his neck. House gripped her waist and pulled her to him.

"Don't start something with me if you're going to change your mind," he warned her once they had broken apart.

She shook her head. "I'm not changing my mind." He stared at her eyes, and saw a hint of fear but they both ignored it and House touched the side of her face. He grabbed her and kissed her again, pushing his tongue past her lips. They explored one another's mouth and anxiously began to move south. House slipped his hands inside of her open blouse. Cuddy shivered at the feeling of his cool hands on her bare skin, and moaned as they traveled up her back. They maneuvered together as House guided her toward his bedroom. She nipped at his earlobe as he kissed his way down her neck and to the top of her breasts. He pushed her shirt off her shoulders and cupped each breast in his hands. He ran his thumbs over the bra and smiled when she shivered again.

Cuddy unbuttoned his shirt and let her hands play across the sparse hairs on his chest. This was surreal to him. House stared at her in wonderment, amazed at how she could be both nervous and uncertain while at the same time, she moved expertly over him with a seemingly instinctual knowledge of how and where to touch him. She pushed him gently down to the bed and then unhooked her bra and let it fall to the ground.

"Wow." House stared up at her half naked body in awe. Now it was her turn to smile. "You're amazing."

"I'm just getting started," she whispered. She bent down to take his lips again and moved quickly over his neck and shoulders. He tangled his hands in her hair and started breathing deeply. She kissed his chest and stomach; she ran her tongue across the line of his jeans and he almost cried out when she moved her hand over his thigh and between his legs, massaging his cock through the rough denim fabric.

He sucked in a deep breath and Cuddy unsnapped his jeans and slid down his zipper. She had rendered him unable to move or breath for fear that he might explode. Such an unforeseen event as this took him completely by surprise and left him unable to react. Kind of like he was watching it in slow motion. House closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the bed. Cuddy slid his jeans and boxers down over his hips and twisted her tongue around his head. House bucked his hips and grabbed her wrist which was massaging itself up and down his shaft. He pulled her up until she was straddling him.

"Don't start something you're not going to let me finish either," he said when she met his eyes.

"Sorry," she smiled. "I thought you had more stamina than that."

House smiled back at the gorgeous brunette rocking against his erection, challenging him, daring him. He laughed. He never allowed himself to connect emotionally or intellectually to any woman, but this girl wouldn't have anything to do with him physically so he had no choice if he wanted to be near her. And he did want to be near her. The thought of it had been all consuming lately. Now that he had her in his bed, he couldn't separate how she was still able to get inside his mind and shake him up. This was exciting for him, because he didn't know what to expect from her. He felt like he could get used to this feeling. Assuming he could keep up with her.

He gripped Cuddy's hips and rolled her underneath him. "I'm pacing myself." He told her as he pulled off her skirt and then reached underneath her, gripping her panties and pulling them over her hips and down her legs. She shivered in the cool air while House raked his eyes over her naked body, and then situated himself over her once again. House covered her with his palm and let his body heat warm her before smoothing his thumb over her clit. She gasped and closed her eyes. He kissed her lips in a rush but then slowed down and took in a breath. His body compulsively wanted to drive into her and rush to completion. But his brain wanted to take in every moment, every smell and every sound that came from her lips. He wanted to memorize every curve and crevice. But Cuddy wasn't having it.

She moved her hands up and over his back then into his hair and pulled him back to look at her again. "What are you trying to prove? Are you taking things slow to try and show me that I'm different?"

"Are you trying to get me to treat you like a whore so that you can prove to yourself that you were right about me all along?" He reached down and gripped her thigh, pulling it up around his waist. He hovered over her and she slowly shook her head no. "You don't have to play games with me Cuddy. It's okay to admit that you like me." He paused and stared at her, trying to gauge her reaction. "I like you," he admitted. "A lot."

Instead of reciprocating the sentiment, Cuddy rose up to kiss him and pulled him down. Both of them moaned in unison as he pushed deeper inside her. They settled into a rhythm of smooth movements and haggard breaths, building in speed and intensity, until her nails dug into his back and he reached his hands beneath her to grip her ass. Cuddy called out to him in an indecipherable wail while House threw himself into her one last time as he came and then collapsed at her side.

The room spun for a few moments before he could regain his senses, but once he did he reached out and circled his arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest.

His breath fell against her back and he nuzzled into her hair. Cuddy smiled. "I like you too," she said.

"Sure," he said without opening his eyes. "You like me now that I've taken you to levels of ecstasy you never even knew existed."

"The thing I like best about you," she said, "is your humble nature." House laughed and then pulled her a little closer. "Hey," she said.

"Hmm?"

"I'm heading home for Christmas tomorrow. I have to be at the airport at noon."

"Are you fishing for a ride?" He asked.

"No. I just—"

"If you don't have to be there until noon then you don't have to leave here until at least ten. We can sleep in and then you can make me breakfast," he whispered against her back. Cuddy smiled, relaxing a little before closing her eyes.

When Cuddy woke up it was still dark outside and she felt House's finger tracing along the form of her thigh, over her hips and up her side. She shivered when he reached a sensitive spot near her ribs.

"Ticklish?" He asked her.

"No," she lied."What time is it?"

"Around two I think." Cuddy stretched her naked body against his, and his hands roamed over her skin sliding around her breasts and resting on her stomach. He pressed kisses against her back and shoulders. Cuddy let out a soft moan and rocked her ass back into his already budding erection.

House groaned into her hair and clamped his hand down on her hip. "You drive me nuts," he said.

"That's what you get for waking me up," she said in a groggy, yet very sexy slur.

"I woke you up because I remembered something." She turned over in his arms until she met his eyes and he dropped a quick kiss on her lips. "I got you a Christmas present."

"Yeah?"

House nodded. "I meant to give it to you at Jack's party tonight, but I chickened out." He leaned over her and grabbed his jeans from the floor and fished a small cubed jewelry box from the pocket.

He handed it to Cuddy whose eyes widened and she shook her head, "House?"

House rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself," he said as she tipped the lid open. "It's not that kind of ring." Cuddy fingered the simple silver band with a heart in the middle topped with a crown and cupped by a small hand on each side. "It's Irish," he told her. "It's called a Claddagh."

"With my hands I give you my heart and crown it with my love," Cuddy whispered.

"That's pretty good," he said.

"How many co-eds have you given one of these to over the years?"

House rolled his eyes. "Including you? Two. But the first was to Maggie Thompson in the fourth grade and it was made out of paper. I really thought I was going to marry that girl someday. But it wasn't meant to be; Ricky Stones bought her a cookie at lunch one day and that afternoon I heard that she kissed him in the girl's bathroom. Tramp."

Cuddy laughed and took the ring from its box. House took it away from her and sat up in the bed. Cuddy leaned against the headboard and he took her hand. "You wear it on your right hand with the heart facing toward you and it means that your heart belongs to someone." He told her." It's also a symbol of a deep and lasting friendship." He pushed the ring onto her finger, and then looked away from her. "I bought it for you, Cuddy, because I wanted you to know that people who are able to throw me so completely off balance and shake me up the way you do are so rare. I can absolutely see myself in your life twenty or thirty years from now, and that scares me a little bit. But…" House fumbled with her hand in his, and finally looked up at her. "But even if I'm wrong and you don't want to have anything to do with me after tonight, I wanted you to have this, so that you know that you left a mark on me, and I won't forget it."

Cuddy stared at him and down at the ring. Panic seized her chest and she could barely breathe. She came here tonight fully expecting a meaningless night of sex, to prove to him and to herself that she did take risks, that she wasn't hampered down by conventions, and that she could handle anything he threw at her. His honesty, his attempt at a genuine gesture was not a part of the plan. It was, in fact, so unlike what she expected from him that even in that moment, Cuddy doubted his sincerity. She reached inside herself for a sarcastic retort, or gentle brush-off but she came up empty. "Thank you," was all she could muster.

House smiled at her again and nodded, sensing that the tender moment had passed and he should let it. Cuddy wasn't the type to be pressed for anything more than what she gave on her own. That he was quickly coming to understand about her. "You're welcome," he said. "Now, the way you have been wiggling your toes under this blanket has gotten me all excited again. Think you might wanna help me out with that?"

Cuddy's eyes sparkled at him in the dark, partially because of tears she was battling to keep at bay, and partially, House decided, because her eyes always sparkled. "Absolutely," she said pulling him toward her.

House kissed her lips, full and hard, but then fell to her shoulders and collarbone. His hands, which were beginning to know well and love the curves of her body, roamed freely, while his lips found their way to her stomach and thighs. He settled himself between her legs and lifted one firm calf over his shoulder. He pressed a gentle kiss to her labia, and then snaked his tongue out to trace her clit. Cuddy tossed her head back onto the pillow and twisted her hands into his hair. "God—"

"No," he said, smiling up at her. "But thanks for the compliment." Then before she could come out of the moment House pushed his tongue hard against her and snaked it back and forth as Cuddy whimpered above him. When she started to rock with the movement of his lips on her, House took a finger and slipped it inside her. He found a tender spot and didn't release her from the prayer of hands and lips playing over her sex, bringing her closer and closer to the brink. A few moments later, Cuddy bucked her hips into him and yelped in exhausted surrender. House, barely able to contain himself a second longer, allowed her to pull him back up to meet her eyes. He took her lips again, though as he did, he turned her around in his arms until she was gripping the headboard in front of them. He pulled her waist back and grabbed one of her hands, lacing his fingers with hers. He slid into her, deeper than he ever imagined possible and in the instance before he came, a pang of sadness hit him. How could anything ever live up to this very moment. This is the most perfect anything in his live will ever be.

The sun, brutal in its early morning assault, woke House from his reverie. The first thing he noticed was that Cuddy was no longer lying next to him. The second was the smell of coffee wafting from his kitchen, and the sound of his shower. Relieved that she hadn't left, House pushed himself off the bed and pulled on a pair of sweat pants that were hanging over the hamper. He padded into the bathroom and was stopped in his tracks by Cuddy's naked figure pulling back the shower curtain.

"Good God," he said. Cuddy spun around, embarrassed, though ultimately exposing more of herself from the front than she had from the back. "Now that is a sight I could get used to waking up to every morning."

Cuddy laughed and pulled a towel around her, as House came up and pressed his lips down on hers. "Good morning," she said.

"Got that right." He kissed her again, deeper this time and wrapped his arms around her now partially covered body. When he pulled back he noticed she was blushing slightly. "want some company?" He nodded toward the shower.

"Yes I do," she said. "But it's already after nine, and I never went home to pack."

House frowned but nodded. "Fine, take your stupid little solo shower." He stole another kiss and then padded off toward the kitchen, in a mock pout.

When Cuddy emerged from the shower, House had pulled on a t-shirt and was seated at his small kitchen table with a coffee in front of him and another in front of an empty seat next to him. He was reading a magazine and grinning foolishly.

Cuddy took a seat without a word. She had stolen a Guess Who? T-shirt from his closet and donned the skirt she had been wearing the night before. Her panties she had found crumpled under his bed and had shoved them into her bag. She took a sip of coffee. Light crème, one sugar. How the hell did he know that? she wondered. She started grinning too as she flipped through the Sunday paper scattered across his table. He glanced up at her and she at him. Then they burst into a giggling fit.

House ran his finger across her wrist. "This feels good. It feels very—"

"Domestic?"

House laughed again. "Well it sounds like crap when you say it." Cuddy smiled and took another sip of her coffee. "Are you going to call me while you're gone?" He asked her.

Cuddy thought on it for a second, then shook her head. "I think I'll just let you miss me for a couple of weeks."

"A couple weeks?! Fuck that, woman you better call me." He said leaning into her.

"Or else what?"

"Or else I might not do this anymore," He told her flicking a bit of hair out of her eyes, the wrapping his fingers into her hair and pulling her into a kiss.

"Fine," she said breathless when he finally turned her loose. "I'll call. But I'll be back before New Year's Eve. We could watch the ball drop together."

House nodded slowly. "Yes. That is one thing we could do on New Year's…I can think of one or two others."

Cuddy smiled slyly over the cup at her lips. She sat down her cup and stood up. He watched her while she slipped on her shoes and coat, then stood up and followed her to the door. He backed her against the wall and placed his hands on the sides of her face.

"Cuddy, I know that coming over here last night was very out of character for you. But I'm glad you did it anyways."

She nodded. "Me too," she whispered, and squeezed his hand, then turned around and walked out of his house.