Another Chance

Thanks again to Syd (partypantscuddy) who beta-ed this one too :) She also sent me an email saying: "You will always be the most incredible man I have ever known." "I choose you. I will always choose you.", before sending out another one telling me to ignore her previous email. Dude, you hurt me deep inside! I thought we were soul mates! xD

Guess who's in Princeton? Te he he ;D

Chapter 3

Rachel Cuddy had been in Princeton for a week now. Her grandmother had brought her shopping on her second day mentioning that she had grown mold in those clothes, especially in those "cheap thingies you call shoes." Rachel hadn't heard directly from her mother but she knew that Arlene received several calls every day.

The girl had developed quite a routine during her stay. Every morning she would wake up and go for a run. A T-shirt, a pair of shorts, comfortable shoes and she would run for miles. She had always been a very athletic person: captain of the swimming team, cheerleader for a couple years and also Karate every once in a while. She couldn't deny though, that she had enjoyed doing yoga with her mother too. But no one knew better than herself, how she felt when she run. She felt free, but still in control of herself. She felt as if no one could stop her.

She would run for an hour, first along the river, then till the other side of town. She would stop then, grab a cappuccino at the nearest Starbucks and sit on one of the benches in front of the hospital. Rachel knew it was silly of her to do this, but she couldn't help herself. And every morning at around 10, she would see a man, entering the hospital with the help of his cane.

That morning though, she didn't see him. It was already a quarter to eleven and there was no sight of him. Rachel stood up from the bench, threw the paper cup in the closest trash can and stretched her muscles. Giving one last glance at the main doors of the hospital, she sighed and took a step forward.

"You know that what you've been doing could be classified as stalking, don't you?" a man asked.

Rachel turned around, cheeks flushed in embarrassment at being caught. Her eyes widened as she saw him.

"I... I didn't mean to..." she mumbled incoherently while taking a step back.

"Of course, you didn't mean to spy on me since you the day arrived here in Princeton." he replied with a smirk.

"I..." she stopped. "How do you know I'm not from here?" she asked.

"I see you can be as thick as your mother." he said. Rachel shook her head in disbelief and was about to protest, but he stopped her. "Come on, let's talk somewhere else." he added, motioning to the hospital.

Five minutes later they were in his office on the fourth floor. He sat behind his desk while Rachel looked around.

"I'm gonna get you some clean clothes." House said.

"There's no need. I can go back home and drive back here. It'll take me less than an hour." she said.

"Nah." he shook his head. "Adams!" he yelled. A woman from the conference room looked towards the office. She stood up from her seat next to a blonde doctor and strode into the office.

"What do you want now, House?" she asked. House glared at her and glanced at Rachel. Dr Adams spotted the girl for the first time and gave her a small smile. "Oh, hi."

Rachel waved shyly and looked at House dumbfounded.

"Adams, I want you to find some clean clothes for this girl." House ordered her.

"Uhm. Okay..." she mumbled under her breath. "Come on, let's go." she said to Rachel.

As soon as they left the office, House picked up his phone and dialed Arlene's number.

"Did she finally gather the courage to come up to you?" he heard her ask.

"Nope, she was still outside when I arrived. I stopped her before she could literally run away."

"Do you think you did right? She might not be ready for this." she replied.

"She could have easily run off. I'm a cripple, I couldn't really run after her."

"Just... don't forget that she is not Lisa." Arlene recommended.

"I know... I know..." he concluded before hanging up.

"So, you work for Dr House?" Rachel asked as they rode the elevator down towards the changing rooms.

"Yes, I do." the woman replied with a small smile. "I've never seen you before."

"Oh, I'm not from here." Rachel immediately replied. "Well, I was born here but my mom and I moved when I was only a kid." she explained. Adams nodded.

"Dr Jessica Adams, by the way." the woman presented herself.

Rachel shook her hand. "Rachel Cuddy. Nice to meet you."

They were walking towards the changing room when Rachel let out a loud pitched scream and ducked behind the doctor. Jessica stiffened a little at the girl's behavior, but waved at Wilson who was coming their way.

"Is House in now?" he asked.

"Yup, he's just got in. He was in his office when I left." she replied.

When Wilson walked away, Adams turned around to face the girl.

"What is your problem?" she asked.

"I don't want to see him! He'll go rattle to my mother that he saw me here." She mumbled.

"May I say that you're weird?"

"It's a long story." Rachel said, shaking her head. They entered the changing room. Adams handed her spare clothes to Rachel.

"I guess they'll be a bit loose on you."

"Nah, they'll be perfect. Thank you." Rachel smiled.

"The showers are right there" she said, pointing to the doors behind the girl's back. Rachel thanked her once again. "You know, we have some time to spare, if you feel like telling me your story, or simply talk to someone, I'm here." Jessica added. Rachel looked confused, but nodded.

They had been sitting in the park for at least five minutes. Rachel was starting to get even more uncomfortable and so was House.

"So… you and my mom used to date when I was little." Rachel broke the ice, receiving a nod from the man. "And she was your boss."

"Yep." he said. "And a good one at that. But don't tell anyone I said that." Rachel laughed. "Is she still a workaholic?" he asked.

"That she is." she confirmed. "Look, I came here for several reasons and one was to talk to you again. I don't remember a lot about you, and I think it's actually kind of normal seeing that I was barely 3 when you were with my mother." Rachel looked up at him. Seeing his blue eyes on her, she kept talking. "My mother still loves you."

"No, she doesn't." he said. "I screwed everything up."

"Yes, you did." Rachel sadly confirmed. "But I can tell you that she still loves you and I can bet on my Piano that you love her just as much as she does."

"You play?" he asked with a smile.

"I do." she replied smiling. "I started when I was 6. Mom has always been so proud of me. She loves it when I play, but there are times when she looks like she might start crying at any moment." she finished in a whisper. "Anyway..." she coughed. "Hand me 20 bucks." she ordered jumping off the table they were sitting on.

"Why whould I do that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I asked you to?" she asked pouting a little. "I'm hungry and I don't have money with me. You buy us lunch today and I'll pay another time." she explained.

"Okay." he gave in. "There's a Chinese restaurant right around the corner there" he informed her, pointing to the street they had walked onto earlier. "Tell them I'm the one ordering, they know what I want." Rachel nodded and started running towards the shop.

"Get extra pancakes!" he yelled after her.

Rachel exited the restaurant less than 20 minutes later with two bags full of food. She walked back to the park to find House laying on the table, talking on the phone. She sat on one of the benches and gently pushed him from the middle of the table. House lazily sat on the other bench and looked for something in the bag in front of him.

"My pancakes!" he mouthed. Rachel rolled her eyes and looked in her own bag. When she didn't see them, she sighed and pointed to the restaurant. House nodded.

House observed the girl as she looked at her left and at her right before crossing the street. He looked at the contents of her bag and smirked. She didn't get those freak tendencies her mother had: mushu pork, chicken noodles and shrimp.

"I see you're not a rabbit food freak like your mother." he joked as he saw a shadow on the table. Too busy trying to catch a shrimp with his chopsticks he didn't look up.

"House." a voice said.

When he looked up he froze. Cuddy was standing in front of him, sunglasses on and arms crossed.

"Mom?" Rachel asked running towards the table. "What the hell are you doing here?"

I hope I'll be able to update soon :) keep the feedback coming please :)