A/N: Reviews are nice. Thanx. This chapter is a bit short but I had to stop…'tis late. Enjoy. AND REVIEW. Yay. Thank you.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

"I'll check around the building, see if anyone heard anything." House said standing up abruptly.

"I'll…check outside." She said, dreading what would come if he were to go outside.

House simply nodded and left the apartment.

He first knocked on the door beside him. The older woman in curlers and a robe opened the door after several loud bangs.

"Oh…So, it's you that comes knocking at my door at three in the morning?" She said angrily.

"Just wondering if you've seen a blond kid?" He put his hand up, "Yay high, long shirt, blue jeans and a bag with him?"

"No, I have not. Can I go back to sleep now?" She asked rolling her eyes.

" Sure." He said overly enthused slamming the door behind her. He heard her muttering curses and walked away quickly to the next door.

--

Cuddy walked outside into the winter air and pulled her jacket closer to her frame. She looked back and forth before she stepped out anymore. House's car was parked close and that is the first place she looked. Empty. She sighed and started walking down the street for a sign of anyone who might have seen him.

--

House was on the fifth floor and was about to give up when he realized he hadn't checked the roof. It was a small chance a five-year-old would be up there but he checked anyway.

The elevator took him up to the very top and when it opened he got a gust of cold air that was still lingering in the hallway. He opened up the door at the end of the dark hall and was hit with another gust of air. He walked out onto the snow-covered roof and looked around. He saw a figure in the distance and limped as far as he could to get over to it.

"McDonald." He yelled.

The kid ignored him.

"McDonald!" Louder.

He turned slightly.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked when he got close enough.

Silence.

"McDonald, I'm sorry." He said with the most sincerity he could.

The kid turned all the way around.

"You ignored me." He muttered

"I was angry."

The kid looked off the side of the building. He watched the snowflakes fall from the sky and to the ground below.

"Nobody really wants me." He said quietly to the streets.

House limped over to him with the aid of his cane and sat on the ledge beside him. He grabbed the kid's chin and forced his face to his. "I do." He replied with tenderness in his voice he had only used in certain circumstances.

"Really?"

"Really."

"It's cold." He said smiling.

"Yes, yes it is. Very cold. Let's go." House said grabbing the kids' hand.

--

Cuddy was sitting in House's apartment after looking for almost an hour. She felt defeated. Completely and utterly defeated.

The door swung open and Ronald came through quietly. Cuddy practically jumped out of her skin at the sight of him.

"Ronald." She said gently to mask the urgency that had been welling up in her since she got the call.

His head was down and he looked tired. He walked to her and sat down on the couch beside her. Cuddy was ecstatic she put a hand through his hair and pulled him into a hug. "You really scared me."

He smiled up at her and she smiled right back.

"He was on the roof." House muttered as he walked into the home moments later.

She let out a short laugh and hugged the child again. "I'm so glad you're okay." He smiled.

House looked at the two for a moment before heading toward them.

"I'll get blankets for the couch." He stated, feeling out of place at the moment.

The extra blankets he had kept for Wilson were in the front of his closet, much to his advantage. He grabbed the white comforter and blue pillow for the kid and shut the door quickly.

Cuddy helped him set the couch up for Ronald and when they were done Cuddy tucked him in.

--

"I'm so sorry." She said several minutes later when they left for the kitchen to get coffee.

"For what?" he asked over the still hot coffee that was in his grasp.

"For making you mad and…for everything." She offered sincerely.

"No need." He waved his hand. "It wasn't…" He trailed off deliberately so he wouldn't soften.

"I know." She murmured over her coffee before taking a sip. "But at least you found him."

"Yeah."

"Well, it's…really late. I should get going." She got up from the table and put her cup in the sink.

"Or…or you could, you know, not go." He said a bit awkwardly.

"Invitation?" She smirked.

"Bribe. Coffee." He pointed his head in the direction of his cup.

"I already drank it."

"Late bribe, but a bribe nonetheless, it still counts."

"I'll stay. But you don't have a guest room…or extra bed."

House looked down at her point. "My bed is big."

"Enough for the both of us?" She said meaning platonically.

"Big enough for…yes, the both of us." He uttered into his cup as he took a last gulp.

"It is snowing pretty hard outside." She said looking toward the door.

"Yes. It would be terribly dangerous for you to get out in that…blizzard." House said with a smirk.

"It wouldn't hurt anything." She said nodding.

Her resolve was breaking, his voice, his eyes. It was probably a con but she was still weakened by it. It was the blue. Blue; blue eyes with the slight glint of mischief in them.

--

"Your bed is comfortable." She sighed as she stretched out onto the fluffy mattress.

"Yes." He simply said lying down on the other side.

"I could've went home House. This wasn't necessary."

"Yes, but you are already here. Now what would be the point of leaving at four o'clock in the morning?"

"I guess there's not one."

"Right. Now sleep."

She closed her eyes and felt the warmth of his bed and his body enveloping her. She hadn't been in bed with a man for at least a year and she felt pathetic. It was comfortable and warm and… nice. It was nice. She would've never in a million years believed she would use the words House, comfortable, nice and warm in the same sentence but it was. It was nice.

--

House rolled over in dark and saw the glow of his clock. Five o'clock. It had only been an hour since he had lain down and he drifted off for only a moment. This had been the longest day he'd had in a while. Ronald was great. He would never say it out loud but the kid had changed him. Even only slightly, he had changed him.

Its not like he'd go into the halls of the hospital singing show tunes anytime soon but Ronald made him feel better. He had taken maybe four Vicoden the whole day and that was definitely an improvement. He was having…fun. He was getting guts, guts he had never thought he would get around certain people. Speaking of the certain people that he was thinking about, she happened to be lying next to him.

He felt different about her. Yeah, sure their relationship was full of bantering and yelling on a daily bases. Flirts floating in the thin air, meaningless looks and attitudes that are thrown into the open. Only when they're together. It felt better than with Stacey. He was closer with Cuddy then he was with Stacey. They met one night, had a quick lay, and moved in together a week later. He'd known Cuddy since college and she meant more to him then he'd admit.

She let out a low sound and that caught House's attention. He realized she was just making herself comfortable. He smirked slightly and watched as she relaxed back into the pillow. He stared at her as she slept and wondered how long he could pull it off. His head was on his hand, which was held up by his elbow. He looked as if he should be a male model.

Her eyelids fluttered and she muttered something quietly. He caught something that started with a 'W'. She rolled onto her back and repeated what she said, louder this time. "Why are you watching me?"

He cleared his throat. "Something on your face." He said pointing at his as an example.

"Right." She smiled blinking her eyes.

"No, no really it's right there." He pointed at her cheek.

"Where?" She asked on a sigh, going along with him.

"Right there." He said getting irate. He put his finger on her cheek and pulled it back.

"Hm. I'll get right on wiping that off." She said rolling over from him.

"Seriously, Lis- uh Cuddy." He quickly corrected himself, "It's on your face…it might be something serious. Dangerous."

"Something toxic is in your bed?"

"I don't know…I haven't washed these sheets since the day disco died."

"God. I should be more repulsed by that." She said rolling her eyes.

"Probably." He murmured laughing slightly.

"There is nothing on my face, go back to sleep House."

"Mk."

TBC