AN: Thanks so so so much to everybody who reviewed, you have no idea how much it means to me, that people are enjoying my story. So let's keep going! (Please read my A.N at the end of the chapter.)
Disclaimer: I don't own House MD, Hide And Seek, The Notebook, or When A Stranger Calls.
- o -
(This is the same night as the end of the last chapter; just from a different perspective.)
Cuddy watched in horror as Emily walked down the stairs. What is this child's problem? She finds a secret hidden door in her closet of her new house, while she's playing hide and seek with her imaginary friend, and she goes in alone. Stupid, stupid child. Cuddy thought to herself. What she wanted more then anything else in the world was to stop the movie, and never have to watch the rest of it. But she couldn't do that or else the person she was watching the movie with, would laugh at her. Cuddy squished herself into a tiny ball, and cuddled deeper into the blankets, as she watched Emily walk into a dark damp room. All the camera showed was her expression of fear, and all Cuddy could hear was the intense, suspenseful music playing from the speakers. Then the lights went off in the movie, and in the room at the exact same time, soon after Cuddy screamed in harmony with Emily.
"House, you jerk!" Cuddy yelled as the lights came back on, allowing her to see House laughing his head off beside her.
"I didn't know it was possible to scream so loud!" House commented, still laughing.
Cuddy blushed, but tried to save some of her dignity by saying in a very professional tone, "You're so immature."
"You're such a chicken-shit," House countered still chuckling.
Cuddy gave him a very hurt look, but before she could respond she heard a spontaneous loud banging noise. She squealed and grabbed House's arm. "What's that?" she whispered.
"That, my brave boss, would be someone knocking on the door," House smirked.
She asked, "Who is it?"
House snipped, "Right, I'll use my x-ray vision."
"Go check like a normal person, whoever it is, it sounds like their going to break down the door," Cuddy ordered.
"I would, but you're clutching onto my arm like it's life support," he pointed out.
Cuddy realized this was, indeed true. She let go of his arm and House hobbled to his door, and looked out the peephole. Cuddy took this opportunity, found the remote somewhere in her fortress of blankets (to protect herself from Charlie, of course) and stopped the movie while House's attention was elsewhere.
"It's Cameron," he said a little stunned.
Cuddy looked up, "Which one?"
"The first one," he replied as the ferrous knocking continued.
Cuddy frowned. "You mean Allison? They have first names you know, House."
"So do I," House stated.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
House played stupid, "What's what suppose to mean?"
"'So do I.' What did you mean?"
House shrugged and reached for the doorknob.
Cuddy yelled, "Wait! You're going to open it?"
House smirked, "Well, usually when someone knocks on a door, they want in."
Cuddy glared at him, "But what if she sees me?"
"Seriously?" House asked exasperated, as the knocking was getting very annoying.
"Do you want everybody to know that I was over at your house?" Cuddy said persuasively.
It was House's turn to glare. "Fine, I'll go outside, she won't come in, but if I don't do it now, either she'll break the door or her hand." House opened the door and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Cuddy got up and looked through the blinds to see a very angry looking Allison. Actually she looked beyond angry; she looked livid. After only a few seconds of conversation, Allison shoved House and Cuddy gave a little gasp. She never imagined Allison could be so mad. After only a couple more minutes, Allison stalked of back to her car, and House walked back inside.
"Are you ok?" Cuddy immediately asked, sounding much more worried then she meant to. "It looked like she pushed you, and I was just double checking… You know, your leg…and all." Cuddy said backtracking lamely.
House gave her a strange look. "I can handle a 100 pound white chick," he said in a 'duh' tone. He sat back on the couch and Cuddy sat where she was before.
"So, what was her problem?" Cuddy questioned as House gave no indication of talking about what just occurred.
"Just yelling to me about her sister."
Cuddy groaned and asked hesitantly, "What did you do?"
"What makes you think I did something?" he asked defensively.
Cuddy gave House a look, "You always do something."
"Well that's excellent logic," House said sarcastically. "Plus, you said I could bug them."
"I said to do something if they weren't doing their job right. It's been one day, and Allison and Alex completed all of their expected duties. But no, you have to butt into their lives."
House looked at the TV screen. "Hey, you stopped the movie," he commented.
Cuddy sighed. She knew he was deliberately changing the subject, but she let it go. "I thought it was getting boring. I brought some other movies we could watch instead."
"Right, way too boring, that's why you almost peed your pants."
Cuddy ignored this comment, and retrieved her bag from the door. "What do you want to watch?"
"I don't care. As long as it's not one of those movies where you're going to bawl your eyes out like a 6 year old girl."
"Please, I wouldn't even bother bring one of those," Cuddy replied, shoving The Notebook to the bottom of her bag. "What about this one? My friend said it was good, but I don't even know what's it about. It's called, When A Stranger Calls."
House, knowing perfectly what the movie was like, grinned evilly. "Sure."
Cuddy put the DVD in the player, thinking this movie would be less suspenseful then Hide And Seek. In two hours she realized how wrong she was.
- o -
Alex sat at her kitchen table, and stared at the coffee dregs in her mug. Sighing, she looked up at her clock and read 6:45. I should probably get ready for work, she thought; but instead of doing that, she refilled her cup with coffee, and sat back down. Resting her head on the table, she tried to push away the memories that have been flooding her head since last night. It was useless though, as her brain relived something that happened such a long time ago…
FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! FLASHBACK! (Ha ha ha, author-fanatic)
"Alex, I need to talk to you," Matt said suddenly, pulling the car over to the side of the road.
Alex looked at him questioningly from the passenger seat. "Okay."
Matt sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Are you sure you're okay with Allison and I going out?"
Alex stared to laugh, "Matt, you and my sister have been going out for like, two years. In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm okay with it."
"Positive?" he asked, but he sounded much less serious now.
Alex cocked her head to the side. What's all of this about? She thought. "Positive," she said. Matt smiled, and pulled the car back onto the road. Still very confused at the sudden concern, Alex looked out her window and watched the cars go by. She had to admit it though, when Matt and Allison had first started going out, it was kind of weird. All three of them have been friends for a long time, so for a while she felt like a third wheel. To her relief, she and Matt were still as close as ever, and same with her sister. Alex honestly didn't care that they were going out, now that they got over the awkward stage. Still I wonder why he asked me all of a sudden… The only reason I could think of, is if their relationship changed, but that's impossible. Unless…Oh my gosh!
Alex whipped around to face Matt but before she could say anything, Matt looked at her, smiling, and said, "I'm going to ask her to marry me."
I knew it! "About time," Alex blurted out. "Seriously? Congratulations!"
Matt grinned, "I didn't ask her yet. Do you think she'll say yes?"
"Of course she will! Wow! I can't believe this! I'm so happy for you!" Alex exclaimed, being entirely honest. "When are you going to pop the question?"
"Well, seeing as it's spring break and we're going to visit her at her university for a couple of days, I was thinking sometime this week," Matt explained, keeping his eyes set on the road.
"That's great!" Alex exclaimed. Grinning she looked out the window again very excited for Matt and Allison. At the time, she had no idea that this week would change her life forever.
END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! END OF FLASHBACK! (Just to bug you a little more, author-fanatic.)
Allison woke up to the irritating sound of her alarm clock. Turning it of, she stared at the ceiling, debated if she should call in sick today at work or not. Coming to the conclusion that she couldn't skip work for the rest of her life, she closed her eyes and immediately remembered last night's events. Sitting back up, Allison automatically started her morning routine, her mind working frantically at the same time. Knowing fully well that she will see House or Alex today, Allison tried to come up with a strategy. I could just ignore Alex, that always worked when we were kids. But there is no way House would let himself be ignored. While Allison was walking brusquely through her living room, she stopped short. Slowly turning around she looked at one of her shelves that held many knick-knacks, and pictures. One of the pictures showed her and Matt, on their wedding day.
"Do you Mathew Brown, take Allison to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"And do you, Allison Cameron, take Mathew to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
Allison jerked out of her sudden remise, and stared at the picture in which her and Matt were so happy, startled to find tears in her eyes. Allison sat down and sighed, thinking about how her sister forced her into a situation she thought she got out of so many years ago.
"Matt, what should I do?" she whispered. The thing that was the hardest about her circumstance was that she knew exactly what Matt would do; and what Matt would want her to do.
- o -
Once Allison arrived at work, she cautiously walked to the diagnostics department, preparing herself for what she should have done 7 years ago. Reaching her destination, she was startled to see that no one was in the room.
At least she thought no one was in the room until a voice said, "There are no cases today. Go do whatever you do, when there is nothing to be done."
Allison spun around and saw House sitting by the glass table, reading a magazine. "Look, House, I just wanted to say-"
"Lots of mail for you to sort through today too."
Allison sighed. Just like him to ignore what happened last night. "I wanted to say that I'm really sorry-"
House cut her off once again, "Yeah, yeah. I know, you over reacted, and now you feel really, really bad."
Allison smiled a little, "I shouldn't have yelled at you; you were just trying to help, and I apologize for-"
"Really, I got it. Now make me my coffee, and scat."
Taking a deep breath, Allison decided to try one more time. "I want you to hear, from me, that I regret what I did, and that-"
House rolled his eyes, and set down what he was reading. "Do you truly think that you apologizing is going to make me feel all warm and fuzzy?"
"I'm not saying sorry for you, I'm saying it for me."
"Aren't you selfish?" House snipped.
Allison, realizing that she was getting nowhere in this conversation, switched subjects. "Do you know where Alexandra is?"
"She called in sick. She sounds exactly like you on the phone by the way. Unless it was you; you didn't kill her last night, did you?"
Allison frowned at the joke, and set upon making coffee.
"Did she drown your dog? Set fire to your house?" House asked, while Allison gave him a sharp look. "What did she do to you?
Sighing once again, Allison decided she had enough of House asking questions. And the only way to put an end to it, was to tell him the truth.
"You know how you always say, everybody lies? That applies to me too."
House cocked his head to the side, "You lied about your husband, didn't you?"
Her hands shaking just a little, Allison set down the coffee put and looked House in the eyes. "You want to know? Fine, I'll tell you."
AN: Who doesn't love a cliffy? Next chapter we find out what REALLY happened 7 years ago. I know this defiantly was NOT my best work, but whatever. Usually I would take this time to apologize for the long wait, but I'm only saying sorry to the following people: author-fanatic, kagomesdance, BookwormKiwi, gatermage, xoxo kati 459, kay-kay11, Daisyz, CrazyGabs, and moo333. I have 22 people on alerts, and only 9 reviews. All the other people who are on alerts, PLEASE review. Or else I won't update and I mean it. To those you DID review, however, REALLY sorry that you guys have to be punished because the other people suck. (Oh wow, I sound like a teacher! AHHH!) Keep up the awesome work you guys! YOU ROCK!