Chapter 45

House and Cuddy were in the living-room. Cuddy just hung up and House stared at her. He had never seen her like this. She was shattered and looked like a ghost.

"Can you explain to me what's wrong with you?" House asked.

Cuddy didn't know where to begin. "I… We…"

House stared at her. "Let me help you." She looked at him, surprised. "You want to talk about …you and Jay"

Cuddy opened her eyes wide. "What… what do you mean? I"

"Com'on Cuddy, I know everything" House replied trying to remain calm but anger overwhelmed him. He felt betrayed and hurt and his voice reflected his feelings.

What did House mean? He seemed so angry, so upset but why? What happened while she was in Miami? "How do you" Cuddy stuttered.

"Know that you sleep with him while I take care of the kids? How do I know that you have fun with that creep!" House exclaimed angry.

"But no! That's not what"

"Stop it, Cuddy! I see right through you!"

"No, House! I won't allow you to say that! I"

"I was so stupid! Oh please, I don't like that guy, I don't want to go to Miami with him, oh no, I have to spend a night there with him. How can you" House yelled.

"House, I don't know what you're talking about, I"

House took his phone and gave it to Cuddy. He felt so hurt, so betrayed at that time that he couldn't find the words to express his feelings. "What does it mean, Cuddy?! Tell me! I'm waiting for an explanation!"

Cuddy looked horrified at House's phone. She could see pictures of her and Jay, and what she saw disgusted her, they made her feel nauseous. She felt a little dizzy and grabbed on to the couch to not fall.

"So… can you look at me straight in the eyes and tell me you don't have an affair with this guy?!"

"You can't say that! It's not what you think! I… he forced me to"

"Oh really? He forced you to make out with him? That's not the impression I have! On the contrary you seemed to like what he did, you seemed to" House shouted angry. He was furious.

"And what about you?!" she shouted back. Anger shined in her eyes. She hadn't expected that.

House looked at her dumbstruck. "What… How can you put the blame on me?!"

"Who's that girl?" Cuddy shouted and showed him the pictures on her phone.

House looked speechless at the photos. "What… what's this? How..? Why…?" They looked at each other. Tears rolled on Cuddy's cheeks. They remained still, gazing at each other but none of them spoke. Finally, House came close to Cuddy and wiped her tears away. Then he took her in his arms. There were too many coincidences. House was now convinced that they were victim of someone who wanted to hurt them. But who? And why? He took a deep breath and said:

"This girl is Dr. Charlotte Nera, a physiotherapist. My leg hurts a lot and Barrow asked her to treat me. That's it, nothing else, Cuddy, I swear there is nothing between me and her. You're the only woman I've ever loved."

"And the photos? Are they photomontage? Can you swear it, House?" she whispered, tears rolling on her cheeks. House looked at her. She looked so fragile, she was deeply hurt.

"Cuddy, how can you think I could cheat on you? I… I can explain to you."

"I listen to you, House. I need to hear it from you, I need you to swear to me that nothing was true." She stared at him, her eyes showed despair and hope, sadness and love. "Tell me, wasn't it you there hugging this girl?"

"Yes, of course it's me but… I… I was so sad, I saw the photos of you and Jay and…" House rubbed his eyes and walked in the room. "I felt so bad, she was there and she… she tried to comfort me. But that's all, it was just a hug, nothing else. I don't care about her." After a while, he said: "Whereas you and Jay…"

"House" Cuddy sobbed, "House, I … I can explain… I"

"Shh, Cuddy, I'm a moron. I knew it couldn't be true, I know you won't cheat on me, will you?"

Cuddy looked at him and shaked her head. She couldn't speak, she had a lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry." House said. Cuddy kept on crying. "I… I thought you wanted to hurt me the way I hurt you when I married Domenica, I… once again I thought of myself."

"No, House, you… you have to know what happened, what really happened." Cuddy finally said. House's heart skipped a beat. Could it be possible that she…?

"What do you mean?" he stammered, his chest aching.

"Jay is dangerous, House, we have to go to the police."

"What did he do, Cuddy? Tell me and I'm gonna smash his face in"

"Nooo! Don't do that! House, promise me you won't do something stupid!"

House looked at Cuddy. She seemed to be terrified. "Okay, I promise, but tell me the whole story. What did this son of the bitch do?"

And Cuddy told him everything: how she ignored him, how she had fun with Chase and Foreman, how Jay reacted, how he kissed her by surprise on the terrace, how she felt bad because of the photos of House and Charlotte, what Jay did at the end of the symposium, how he threatened her to lash out at her family if she didn't give in to his advances, and finally she explained to him the last photos.

"House, this guy is mad, he"

"He's mad about you and he scares you. You almost gave in to him, Cuddy!"

"I… I don't want him to lash out at the kids, House."

"But Cuddy! How can you just think of prostituting you! Do you really think he will leave us alone once he'd got what he wants?!"

"I… I don't know, House, I didn't know what to do, I was completely lost, he…"

"Did he mention clearly Rachel and Ethan?"

"No, he… he said your family"

"So… he maybe meant you and I" Cuddy looked at House, she didn't understand what he meant. "I'm sure he's behind all these horrible and tendentious pictures that we both received. I don't know how he did it, but I'm certain that he is the only person responsible of all this crap." Cuddy nodded and House went on with his explanation. "This guy is jealous, Cuddy, he's jealous of me and you, he's jealous of our love, and I think that by your family he meant you and I, he wants us to break up, to argue, to tear each other apart. He can't have you and he knows it, he doesn't want that any guy gets you, he's convinced that he is the only one who has the right to have you, no one else can be with you that's why he wants us to break up. Do you understand?"

After a while, Cuddy said: "Yes, it seems logical. You're probably right. I really hope you're right …" and she burst out sobbing.

House hugged her. "He's gonna pay for what he did to you, Cuddy, I swear he will pay for it."

"House! No, we can't do anything alone, Jay has lot of influence here, he's a bigwig, and he knows lots of powerful people. We need the help of the police."

"As you say, he knows lots of people in a powerful position, do you really think that the police can do something for us? He certainly knows people in the police department. We have to find a solution by our own."

"Then I know what I have to do"

"No way that you do it, Cuddy. You're my girlfriend, you're the mother of my son, you're the woman I love, it's out of the question that we break up because of that creep." House articulated and looked at her straight in the eyes. "Not after all we went through."

Cuddy nodded. House was right, but… what could they do?

"When do you have to give him your answer?"

"On Monday, 10.00 am"

"So, we have two days to plot something. Let's think about it."

"House…" she said and hugged him tight. "House, I love you."

"I love you too, Cuddy." He whispered in her ear and kissed her tenderly. "Everything's gonna be fine, believe me, we're gonna get out of this."

She nodded. "House, I"

"Shh" and he kissed her. A passionate kiss, a long kiss. "Cuddy, I have to tell you something."

Cuddy looked up, worried.

"I… it's maybe not the right time to tell you but… you have to know." House made a pause, took a deep breath and went on: "I know it's maybe not a good reason, but… my leg hurt like hell these last two days, maybe because my subconscious tried to tell me that you feel bad, that Jay harasses you, well, and then… the photos… and… "

"And?" she said softly, holding him tighter.

"I… I went back on Vicodine" he whispered. "But it's temporary, I swear"

She looked at him straight in the eyes. She felt pain, her heart hurt but she forgave him. "Thank you, House, for telling me."

"Can you forgive me?"

"Do I ever refuse to forgive you?" she replied with a smile.

"No" he smiled at her. He was happy. "And now, let me show you how much I love you."