Laugh Laugh

January 6

12:30pm

Cuddy was talking to Ted Drake about an important meeting that had just been set for that night at 6:00, when House walked up to them.

"Will you two stop gossiping about me?" House said talking to Cuddy and Drake. "You don't want me starting rumors about you two. They would be quite dirty rumors."

"I am talking to Dr. Cuddy right now," Drake said, turning his back on him. "Come back when you grow up."

"I think my date with her trumps your dull conversation," House said.

"House, don't be rude," Cuddy said as she reached into her pocket and got out her car keys, handing them to him. "Go wait in my car."

"If I slip on the ice and die, I blame you," House said pointing at Drake. "You should be nicer to cripples."

"Are you seriously going out with him?" Drake asked Cuddy after House left. "He will break you heart."

"I know how to handle House," Cuddy said to him.

"You are a strong woman, Lisa, but I don't know if you are that strong," Drake said. He knew that Cuddy had a tough exterior, but was a very kind person. He also knew House would end up causing her to cry.

"I'll be fine," Cuddy said smiling at him. "I know he may be a little rough around the edges, but he isn't that bad when you get to know him. You just have to be patient with him."

xx

After the initial punch in the arm that House received from Cuddy, the rest of the car ride to the restaurant was fine. They had decided to go to the local barbeque to get some ribs for lunch.

"These are great," House said to Cuddy as he was eating his ribs. He tried to make sure that he didn't eat like a total pig.

"I don't know exactly what is in their sauce, but it is great," Cuddy said as she too was eating her ribs.

"Wilson asked out Natalie last night," House said. "I think Natalie Wilson is a pretty good name for her."

"She will bore of him before that happens," Cuddy said. She knew that Natalie always demanded a lot of attention from her boyfriends and Wilson spent too much time with House and at work to give her the attention that she would want. She hoped they had fun while it lasted, though.

"It is amazing how many women Wilson can get to marry him," House said.

"That's because he is very sweet," Cuddy said, thinking about all the times Wilson has comforted her. "He can say all the right things to a woman. He tries to make you happy when you are down."

"So how many times have you and Wilson had sex?" House asked with a smile. "Too many to count or only once?" Cuddy choked a little on her water when he said that. She had always thought of Wilson as more of a brother, so the thought of having sex with him kind of grossed her out.

"I am happy to say never," Cuddy said giving him a smile of her own.

"I bet he has tried, though," House said. Cuddy let out a little laugh.

"If he has, I have never picked up on it," Cuddy said.

"Have you ever almost been married?" House asked.

"I was engaged once," Cuddy said. She remembered the time when she thought she was going to be Mrs. Jason Todd. "As you can see, that didn't work out." House wanted to know more.

"What happened?" House asked. "Did you accidentally kill him?" House picked up a knife and moving it in a stabbing motion.

"He always had kind of an anger problem," Cuddy said. "I could handle the random yelling and him being overly dramatic, but then one day he was angry because of something that had happened at the place that he worked and I told him he needed to calm down and he grabbed me by the throat and pushed me against the wall." Cuddy still remembered every detail of that event. House didn't know what to say. He wished he could go find that guy and have an 'accident' with him.

"Had he ever hit you before?" House asked amazed at how calm she was when she spoke of the incident.

"No, and I was never going to give him the chance to do it again," Cuddy said.

"How did he react when you broke up with him?" House asked wondering if he had tried to hurt her again.

"He tried to beg and plead for me to come back, but I knew that if he could fly off the rocker because of something that I didn't even do, I couldn't imagine what would happen if I did something that irritated him," Cuddy said.

"You did the right thing," House said knowing from personal experience that abusers don't change.

"Besides him, I haven't really been that close to marriage," Cuddy finished trying to get off the subject. House knew that the experience she had gone through with that man had caused her to become a little weary of getting too serious with guys. House reached his hand across the table and grabbed her hand. She gave him a giant smile when he did it.

"I know that I am a jerk, but I hope that you have never been scared of me," House said. "I'm not violent."

"Of all the times you have yelled at me, I never once worried that you were going to hit me," Cuddy said holding on to his hand.

"You don't have to worry because I save my punches for Chase," House said.

"So that's why you hired him," Cuddy said. "I'm surprised he agreed to that." House gave Cuddy a big smile that also made his blue eyes smile. The rest of lunch dealt with talking about Cuddy's meeting that night and a bet on how long Wilson and Natalie's relationship would last.

They made their way back to the hospital and were now getting out of Cuddy's car. "I'll go tell Dr. Bob that we are back so he can continue to hit on you," House said.

"His name is Ted and leave him alone," Cuddy said as she got into her back seat to get her briefcase. "He just worried that you will hurt me."

"That's because he wants you for himself so he can get all of your kisses," House said.

"Thanks for putting the image of him trying to kiss me in my head," Cuddy said.

"Nobody should have to think about that," House said. "Let me help erase it." House grabbed Cuddy by the sides of her face and gave her a big kiss. She put her right arm on his left arm while lifting her left arm that held a briefcase, against his right side. The image of Drake trying to kiss her was replaced by the image of House kissing her.

"That is much better," Cuddy said smiling at him when the kiss was over.

"I am a doctor, so I don't like to see people in pain," House said.

"I hope I don't have to be in pain to get a kiss from you," Cuddy said. "That might get old after awhile."

"There are other reasons I would kiss you," House said as he gave her another kiss. She put her suitcase down so she could wrap her arms around his waist. She really enjoyed kissing him. She wished he would never stop. "I will also do it to make you shut up." Cuddy gave him a slight punch in the chest.

"You think you are so funny, don't you?" Cuddy said. "Maybe you should be a comedian."

"If I am not funny, why do you have a giant smile on your face?" House asked.

"Because I'm looking at your face," Cuddy said letting out a laugh. House started laughing, too. She was good at giving comebacks.

"I think I need to go cry to Cameron now," House said as he pretended to wipe away a tear. "You know, words can be hurtful." They started walking out of the parking garage towards the hospital. Cuddy couldn't help but smile as she rubbed her left hand against his back as they walked together.