Hello! I am back with the 10th chapter!

Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews. I will try to oblige your wishes in the next few chapters.

Before you start reading you should know that I have changed the name of House' biological father. xTorgiex was so kind and told me that his real name is Joseph Bell. Thanks a lot for that. And also thanks a lot to Jane for proof reading this chapter :)

Enjoy reading!

10. Chapter

"Please slow down, Greg."

House sighed at the words of his mom. He knew she was just worried. She always was worried and usually he didn't really care about it but right now it just annoyed him.

Instead of slowing down House pressed the gas pedal even harder and cut the next corner.

Blythe wanted to say something again but decided not to. Complaining wouldn't make it easier to fix the crack in their mother-son relationship. It would probably make everything even worse. And this was the last thing she wanted. She loved her son with all of her heart. She wanted to get along with him.

Cuddy was sitting on the passenger seat next to House and was unintentionally watching him. She noticed that he was tense. He also seemed a bit nervous and clearly annoyed at his mom's complaining. She felt this strange urge to hug him. She wanted to make him feel better. She wanted to kiss his boo-boo. She wanted to take away his pain and the disappointment but she didn't know how. All she could do was be here with him, by his side.

There were far too many people standing in front of the church when they arrived at the cemetery. Blythe got out of the car first.

"You wanna slip off?" House asked when they were alone. He didn't dare look at her.

"Ask me again after the funeral."

"You are no fun."

"In case you have already forgotten it: I am a party-pooper."

"How can I forget? You remind me every few minutes of it."

It was no argument. Not really. It was just their usual banter and it made them feel comfortable.

"Let's get out. The funeral is going to start in a few minutes."

"You really sure you don't want to split?"

"I am." She said, opened up the car-door and excited the vehicle.

When Cuddy noticed that House obviously had no intention of getting out of the car she made her way over to the other side of the vehicle and opened up the door. "You coming?"

He nodded but made no move to get out.

"Come on." Cuddy said in a soft voice and extended her right hand towards him.

He looked at her hand. After considering for a few moments he took it and exited the car.

Her hand felt so warm and so smooth that he would have liked to keep holding it but he couldn't. He neither was a teenager nor was he a softie like Wilson. So he let go of her hand again and followed her over to the church where his mom was already waiting for them.

House wasn't paying attention to any of the crap the priest was saying. His eyes were on the black casket that was standing in the middle of the church. He and Cuddy as well as his mom were sitting in the very last row. Cuddy was sandwiched in between them. House was on the right side (which was just a few feet away from the exit) and Blythe was on the left.

The church was crowded with people. In this small town a priest was something like God himself. So almost everyone was here to pay his or her last respects to priest Joseph Bell.

"Are you alright?" Cuddy whispered when she noticed that House was staring motionless at the casket.

House nodded and than looked at her. "I just want this shit to end… Don't want to be late for the rerun of the rerun of Oprah which you didn't let me watch yesterday." Sarcasm was always the easiest way to deal with an uncomfortable situation.

Cuddy smiled lightly at him. Her hand went to his and gave it soft squeeze. She wanted him to know that she was here and that she had no intention of leaving him alone.

Four men had carried the casket to the cemetery. The priest and the rest of the people had followed them and were now standing around the open grave.

"Let's go over there." Blythe took her son's hand and wanted to drag him with her nearer to the grave of the man she once loved. But House made no move to follow her.

"I am staying right here were I am." House said. His voice was cold.

"He was your father, Greg." Blythe whispered. A tear was running down her cheek.

"That doesn't change the fact that he was a selfish idiot."

Blythe was hurt even though she knew that she had no reason to be. It was completely reasonable that House reacted like that. Joseph had let them both down. For him God had been more important than his own kid. House had every right to be pissed at him and actually she had this right as well. But there was this weird feeling that didn't allow her to hate him. She just couldn't.

Without saying another word she turned around and went away to the grave.

"This man dumped her. Why the hell is she even here? And why does she constantly try to defend him?", asked House when Blythe was out of earshot.

"She loved him." Cuddy who was standing behind House made a step towards him. "Love isn't logically explicable. It doesn't care about facts or numbers… it is just here. Even if you don't want it to be."

"Love sucks."

"Sometimes it does." Cuddy agreed with him.

When the priest started to pray House as well as Cuddy fell into silence. They were standing about 30 feet away from the mourners.

House was feeling much more comfortable at this distance. If they were standing just a few feet nearer he probably would have felt completely out of place.

He started watching the scenario. He took in the view of the people that were standing around the grave and asked himself if he was the only one that had genes from Joseph Bell or if he had procreated even more kids.

When the prayer was finished a young man with short brown hair started to deliver a speech. House noticed already after the first few sentences that this man was a priest as well. No one else would be so far away from reality with their thoughts.

After saying something about a much more beautiful world Bell is now living in – what was commented by House by an annoyed eye roll – he started to say how thankful he was for everything Bell had taught him.

And then came the phrase that made House mad, pissed and sad. The man seriously said: "Joseph Bell was not just my mentor, he was something like a father to me. He taught me everything I needed to know to be a good priest…"

House winced when he heard these sentences and once again was reinforced in the negative view he had of his biological father.

Without waiting for the speech to end House turned around and left.

He had had enough! He wanted nothing to do with this man! Not even with his dead body.

This fucking bastard had been willing to be the father of a whole community and to his junior priests but it was not possible for him to be the father of his own flesh and blood. Instead he let his own son stay with a man who tortured him and who made him become an emotional cripple.

House hated both of them!

When House saw his car he slowed down his steps. That was when he realised that Cuddy had followed him. She was now silently walking next to him.

"If he weren't already dead I probably would have killed him." He was mad but there also seemed to be a small amount of despair in his voice.

He flinched a bit when he suddenly felt Cuddy's arm on his own. He stopped walking, looked at her and noticed that she had tears in her eyes. The realization that she was crying hit him hard. He hated to see her cry.

House was frozen. What should he do now?

The question got answered itself when Cuddy suddenly wrapped her arms around his stomach. She placed her cheak on his chest. "I am sorry."

House didn't know what she was talking about. He didn't even know what exactly her sudden breakdown was about.

"For what?" His voice was much softer now. His right hand went tentatively to the small of her back.

"For you having such an idiot as a father. For you being treated badly by John. For your screwed-up childhood. For all the shit you had to deal with."

She tightened her arms around him. It was like she wanted to press all the bad memories out of him.

"It is okay."

"No, it's not."

"It's over now."

"But it's still here. It is still bothering you!" She looked up at him. Her tears where now running down her cheeks.

He nodded. She was right. It was still something he had to deal with. It was still something his nightmares were about. It was still an issue in his life and it probably always would be.

House finally had the heart to lay his other arm around Cuddy as well.

They were alone. No one would see them. No one would witness his softer side.

"If your father weren't already dead and you would have killed him I would have helped you to hide the body."

Cuddy felt House laughing and then started laughing as well. She wiped her tears away and broke away from his embrace.

"I think I wanna slip off now." She then said and smiled.

TBC...

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