Here I am again! Well... OOC House or IC House? We are in a dilemma...

Enjoy!

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Chapter 15 - Yes

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"Here, Madam" The laundry girl said, putting a couple of clean and neatly folded shirts in a paper bag and handing it to Cuddy.

Cuddy thanked her, greeting her with a nod and turning to House who stood in the doorway, leaning with his back against the doorframe.

"Mrs. House?"

She met his gaze before turning back to the girl behind the counter.

"Your key, Madam" she said handing her the room key she had forgot on the counter.

House looked at her as she thanked her again, smiling and putting the key in her purse. And he couldn't avoid running his tongue on his lips, slightly smiling as she looked up at him.

"So... ready to be a free woman again, Mrs. House?" He asked, staring at her as she approached him.

"I'll be back just Dr. Cuddy," she said, smiling and taking his hand "but... I really hope I'm not going to be free," she added, still smiling, looking into his eyes and biting her lip, lacing her fingers with his.

House pulled her to him, wrapping her waist with his arm but not letting go of her hand, gently kissing her on the lips.

"You'll have to find a better way to get rid of me than firing me, Dr. Cuddy," he said pausing a moment on her lips before letting her go.

She just smiled, taking off her shoes as they walked on the beach toward their bungalow. The paper bag and her shoes in one hand, his hand clasped in the other one. House turned his head toward her, looking at her in the dim light, and pulled her to him again, this time letting her hand go and wrapping her back, first with one arm and then with both of them.

And he watched her as she lifted her head to meet his gaze. He liked that feeling. The feeling of her body in his arms. The towered her at least a hand width. More when she wore no heels. And it was a strange feeling. The awareness of how small she was in his arms. Something that he rarely noticed in hospital. She could stand up to him. Always. And certainly she was never intimidated by those 8 inches or by the fact that he was almost twice her pounds.

He found her lips, and then her tongue.

"I don't want to go back home" she whispered on his lips, looking into his eyes despite the dim light "I don't want this to end..."

House didn't answer, just finding her lips again, slightly biting on her bottom lip and then brushing her lips with his, not really kissing her.

"Then make sure it's not gonna end" he whispered on her lips, looking at her as she looked up again meeting his piercing gaze.

Cuddy didn't answer, analyzing those words.

"I'm not going to end this story, House..." She said, feeling his arms holding her closer.

"But you're afraid... You wonder how going back to daily life will be..." he said looking into her eyes.

"I'm not afraid," she replied smiling slightly "... I already know how it will be," she said, raising an eyebrow and giving him a half mock glare, "I just hope..." she hesitated slightly biting her lip and smiling "you'll be there to hold me at night after having driven me crazy all day" she said, smiling and brushing in turn her lips on his.

"I hope to drive you crazy even at night, Cuddy," he said, raising an eyebrow with a mischievous gaze, looking at her as she smiled and nodded.

He found her lips more, brushing her tongue, but again not deepening the kiss.

"Say yes," he whispered on her lips so imperceptibly that she wasn't sure she had heard him correctly.

"Yes?" She asked with a quizzical look.

House nodded, again touching her lips.

"Without the interrogative form" he said, looking at her as she smiled slightly and looked away for a moment before looking at him again.

"Er... I'm not sure I know what we're talking about," she said looking into his eyes.

"You are" he said looking into her eyes.

His gaze dispelled her doubts. And the smile on her lips too. She knew what he was talking about... just ... she couldn't believe they were talking about that. In the last few days he had said her ' love you' in every possible way... without ever using those three words... This was House... but what he was talking about right now was... what was it?

"Stay my wife" he said, looking at her as she bit her lip.

"House..." she said, looking into his eyes, "I know you don't like changes, but..." she looked away, shaking her head slightly.

"I know what I feel, Cuddy," he said lifting her chin to make her looking into his eyes "I'm not being irrational" he pointed out, staring at her "I'm very rational. Irrational is... what I feel for you. What I've been feeling for almost twenty years. Irrational is still wanting to deny it. Irrational is... let this end... "

"House... I'm not going to let this..." she said as he didn't give her time to go on.

"Want you know why I haven't said you that 'I love you' yet?" He said still staring at her "Not because I don't love you," he said, looking at her lip tight among her teeth and lightly touching it with his thumb before looking up into her eyes. "Did you ever have a panic attack, Cuddy?" He asked without expecting an answer and without waiting for an answer from her "The feeling of not being able to breathe? I did. On that flight, Lisa," he said using her first name maybe for the first time in twenty years. "... irrational was not being able to leave that room... not feeling the need to eat... sleep... not feeling anything but the fear of losing you... "

"This is irrational, Cuddy. What I feel is irrational. And this is why I can't say you that 'I love you'. Because... I already said 'I love you' to a woman... and it wasn't this. It wasn't what I feel now. "

"Those three words aren't enough at all," he said looking into her eyes "You want more. I don't know what that 'more' isfor you but ... you... you're my 'more'..."

"I never proposed to a woman. I never even thought about doing it. I never even thought I could do it! Never thought I could have wanted a woman so much to want her to be mine. But that's what I want right now, Cuddy. "

"I know how it's like to be without you... and I know how it's like to be with you ... so... I'm perfectly rational... I want you. Tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that."

"Stay my wife" he repeated on her lips.

"House... I..." she whispered, looking away "... I don't know..." she said, lightly shaking her head and slightly loosening the grip of her arms around his neck "I want you. And I know I'll want you tomorrow and the day after and the day after that like I wanted you yesterday, and the day before... and the one before that... but... I don't... I don't know... you can't ask me to be your wife... like this"

"...'Like this' how, Cuddy?" He said seriously still staring at her but in turn slightly loosening the grip of his arms around her body "... Without hearts and... flowers... and diamonds...?"

"No." She answered, "Er...yes. Uhm... I don't know... it's just that... being husband and wife is..."

"It's... what? Supporting each other? Someone who can make you laugh when you just want to cry? In sickness and health? For better or for worse?" He said, looking straight into her eyes. His gaze harder than he would have wanted.

She couldn't help but bit more on her bottom lip as she stared back at him... she didn't want to hurt him, but... he was asking her an impulsiveness that wasn't part of her... least at all of him...

"House... we've been together just for..."

"I know since we've been together Cuddy," He said dryly, not letting her finish that sentence. "You know me. And I know you. I'm an asshole. And I'll still be that asshole. The same one you..."

"... the same one I fell in love with" she said, smiling slightly and finishing that sentence for him.

He watched her as she slightly bit her lip again. And he stroked her back with both hands, looking into her eyes and slowly moving his hands from her shoulders to her lower back, and then again from her back to her shoulders, caressing her neck and then taking her face with both hands.

"... Those three words aren't really enough" he said, stroking her cheekbone with his thumb and then brushing her lips with his finger, looking at his own finger and not at her eyes.

She met his eyes just for an instant before his lips brushed against her forehead in a light kiss.

... Say yes... he whispered on her skin without looking into her eyes, still stroking her cheekbone with his thumb, before stepping back. He met her eyes just for a split second before turning around and walking away, climbing the few wooden steps toward their bungalow door.

She stood still, just watching him as he turned the key in the lock and opened the door, then disappearing beyond that same door, without turning back. Motionless. As if time had stopped, while that 'say yes' still spun and swirled in her mind.

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He was asleep when she entered their bedroom. Or maybe not. Perhaps he was just faking it... but he didn't move as she took off her dress, then putting on one of his T-shirts, once again using it as a pajamas.

She looked at his back as he slept facing the window, not her. She looked at the empty space beside him. Her place. That was where she wanted to be. That night and all those to come. And that was the problem. That was what scared her the most. Where was her rationality? She wanted to say yes. She wanted to say him that yes. But she was afraid. Not of him. Of herself. She was held back by her rational side, but the truth was that she wanted to be his wife. She wanted a baby from him and with him. She wanted to be his. And this... this was not rational.

She stood there, just listening to his breathing. She really wanted to be able to trust her instincts. She wanted this man. The man who more than anyone else could upset her... and make her laugh. The man who more than anyone else could get her uncomfortable... and comfortable.

"...'Like this' how, Cuddy?" He had said her "... Without hearts and... flowers... and diamonds...?"

No. Not 'like this' like 'without flowers and diamonds' ... Flowers and diamonds were the last things she cared about. He wasn't the man who gave flowers. He wasn't the man who kneels to ask for a woman's hand in marriage. She meant... offhand... off the cuff... when they have been dating for a few days ... when they hadn't gone beyond kisses and caresses yet... But... that was House. That was decidedly House. Switching from a joke to a serious talk and then again to a joke. If she ever thought that man could propose marriage... well... she would imagine it like this. No... she would have expected anything different from him. But certainly she wasn't expecting it... now.

She hesitated, still standing in the middle of the room, considering whether it was better to sleep in her own bed that night or not... but... sleeping alone was the last thing she wanted at that moment. She hadn't answered his question, but she knew what her place was. That one was the only place in which she wanted to be. And that one was the only man she wanted next to her. Their relationship wasn't ordinary. House wasn't ordinary. It was the most extraordinary man she had ever known. In all facets of that word. And certainly in the very literal sense of that word. Extra ordinary. And being out of the ordinary was what made him extraordinary.

She approached the bed, watching him sleeping in the dim light of that room, lit only by the moon light coming from the window.

She started as soon as she felt his hand wrap her legs, suddenly pulling her on the bed while a 'Geez, House!' escaped from her lips.

She slapped his arm, not holding back a laugh as her heart pounded in her chest.

"Shit, you gave me a heart attack. I thought you were asleep." She laughed as she could feel his body near hers and his mouth just a millimeter from hers.

"To give you a good excuse to not answer my question?" He said, smiling on her lips "No, Cuddy!" He laughed again.

Wasn't he angry? Because of her no... that, well, actually it wasn't a no... but anyway it wasn't an answer yet, and...

He gave her no time to thought about that. His tongue found hers and immediately dissolved every thought, replacing it just with an ancestral need of him.

"Oh God..." she sighed, tilting her head back and failing to hold back a moan as soon as he sucked her neck "... God, House... please, no... you can't do this to me" she whispered, smiling, clutching his hair in her hands, while her mouth said no, and her body yes.

He slid his hand down her body, brushing with his thumb the side of her breast through the shirt and hearing her sigh again.

"You know I can make you scream that yes, don't you?" He whispered in her ear, sending a shiver in her most intimate part.

God... of course she knew! And the feeling of his partial erection against her thigh made immediately contract the muscles in her lower abdomen.

He felt her tighten her thighs against each other in response to that feeling and responded by slipping his hand lower, caressing her knee and then moving up along her inner thigh, just touching her with his fingertips, and just for a few inches.

"House... please..."

He found her mouth again and teased her lips with his tongue.

"You're trying to turn rational what is irrational, Cuddy," he said, smiling on her lips "This is the only part of you saying no" he said, kissing her mouth and seeking her tongue.

God... how could just the feeling of his tongue into her mouth have such a power over her? And better for her that he didn't know what her mouth would have wanted to do at that moment.

She felt his hand still stroking her leg, then moving up on her hip and on her waist and then on her arm. His fingers moved slowly from her shoulder to her forearm as his lips didn't leave hers.

"You're the most complicated woman I've ever known" he whispered with a smile on her lips, finding her hand.

Cuddy smiled, intertwining her fingers with his.

"You are the most unpredictable man I've ever known" she replied, still brushing his lips, without leaving his hand.

He kissed her lips again, then rolling her by back. Her back against his chest as he wrapped her body with his arm, still kissing the side of her neck, but letting tenderness replace passion.

"Just tell me you won't make me wait another twenty years" he laughed, sucking her earlobe.

She opened her mouth to reply but gave a start at that feeling. And started even more as that movement pressed her backside more against his erection, his arm still holding her close to him.

"God, House... you're torturing me" she whispered, trying not to think about that feeling.

"Oh... me?" He replied, laughing and biting her earlobe again "Sleep! Or those twenty years will become just twenty seconds, Cuddy."

Cuddy laughed in turn, stroking his arm wrapped around her body.

"So?" She asked in a deliberately mischievous tone, turning her head toward him, trying to look into his eyes "What do you want more? Me being your wife? Or having sex with me, House?"

She heard him laugh as his arm clutched her body even more.

"Having sex," he said on her lips "with my wife" he added, looking for her lips again.

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So? What can I say... For him things are just white or black! And I like him like this. What about you?