Disclaimer: I do not own House MD or any of the characters

A/N: Here's chapter 9 :D …

Oh, and Happy 2009!

Enjoy!

"What are you doing here?" Cameron asked Wilson as she turned away from House.

"She kicked me out … used the old, "I'm your boss and you have to go to work" line …" he explained looking up at House who, he knew, was everything but happy that Cuddy was home alone.

"Is she alone?" asked Cameron looking concerned

"Well, yes …" replied Wilson figuring the answer was pretty obvious "I think I'll go by at lunch time, though, just to be safe" he added looking at House.

Once Cameron had nodded and left, the oncologist turned to House "Aren't you going to call her?" he asked

"Why?" House counter-asked flipping through a clinic file

Sighing, Wilson figured it was pointless explaining it to him again and so simply told House to forget it and headed off to his office, leaving House perfectly aware of why he should call Cuddy, strongly wanting to, and stubbornly deciding not to.

That lunch time, Wilson stopped by House's office. One of his terminal patients ahd had complications during surgery and he wasn't going to be able to get away until that afternoon.

"So I asked Cameron if she'd stop by, just to make sure everything's alright" he explained still sticking his head into the office, needed to rush off as soon as House nodded. And he did.

Now alone, House thought about himself, staying at the hospital, while Cameron went to check on his … on Cuddy. Somehow, even to House, that just felt wrong, so, giving in to the part of himself that he never admitted he had, House stood and headed for the ER.

"Cameron" he called as she took a step back from a bed surrounded by doctors.

"Not now, House" she replied looking at her watch "I have to head over to Cuddy's. Wilson was gonna go, but he can't so …"

"Yea, about that" said House enforcing his golden rule 'everybody lies' "I just spoke to her on the phone, she's going to go to sleep, so there's really no point driving over there, you'll just have to drive all the way back here. Plus, you don't want to be the one to wake up raging-hormone-Cuddy" he said with a face "not a pretty sight"

Looking at her former boss, Cameron tried to figure out just how much of what he was saying was true. However, she had never really been good at deciphering House's faces and separating the truth from all the lies and sarcasm, so she resigned herself to hoping he was telling the truth and nodded.

When she saw House head out the main doors, she called after him "where are you going?"

"Lunch, Wilson" he said

It was only five minutes later that Cameron registered what House had said and realised that he had, in fact been lying. At the very least, about the last part, but she was sure it was too late to stop him now.

Standing outside Cuddy's door, House figured it'd just be easier to 'break in'. So bending down as well as one can with a bad leg, he retrieved the small silver key from under it's green pot and let himself into the house.

Lying, as she would have to get used to, alone in her guest bedroom, Cuddy suddenly heard a noise. It wasn't very loud or alarming, but she was pretty sure that it was the sound of the front door opening and closing. Sitting up straighter, she managed to catch a glimpse of the front door and the diagnostician standing in front of it through her large mirror.

"What on earth are you doing here?" she asked, knowing that it would confuse him.

Wondering where she was and how she'd seen him, House made for the stairs

"I'm not up there" she said starting to have fun.

In the mirror, Cuddy caught a glimpse of a smirk on House's face.

"Ok …" he said mainly to himself as he looked around the house. She wasn't in the living room, the Kitchen door was closed, so if she were in there, she wouldn't be able to see her, he couldn't think of a plausible reason why she'd be hiding in the closet to his left. So, after excluding all other possibilities, he headed for the spare bedroom.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when he appeared in the door way

"Uh… Wilson had a lunch date in the OR so …" he began

"Yea, I know, but he told me he'd send Cameron over …" she interrupted

When House didn't answer, Cuddy figured it was better to let it go before she scared him away, after all, emotion-talk could drive Greg House away faster than an epidemic of flesh-eating viruses; actually, the latter would most likely attract him.

"Well, anyway, as you can see, I'm fine, I haven't left the bed since Wilson left this morning, and I'm not going hungry, either" she added looking at the several packets of cookies that Wilson had, oh so thoughtfully, placed all around her.

House hated this. He couldn't think of a single funny thing to say. He couldn't even think of something insulting to say. All he could do was look at her, a glow covering her as she sat in bed, her belly looking as though it could engulf her, and focus all his energy on not letting his face show how much he wanted her.

"Really House, thanks for stopping by. But I'll be fine, besides as your …"

"…boss, I really must ask you to go back to work now" he finished for her in a mock-high pitched voice "alright, but when you do need a gentleman to help you to the bathroom, or get something other than cookies for your little parasite to eat …" he started, feeling his old self momentarily come up again.

" … I'll call Wilson" she interrupted him, knowing he had been referring to himself with the 'gentleman' comment.

Semi-glaring at her for a few seconds, House let out a sigh that he was sure she couldn't here and, with a slight nod, left the room and headed for the door.

Alone in her bed again, Cuddy sighed. She had wanted him to stay, she really had. But she couldn't handle having him there, looking at her with those yes, knowing that she was lying to his face, even if not directly. She knew House was well aware that 'everybody lies' but she didn't want to be just one more in his statistics, she'd rather not have him there, than feel guilty for protecting herself.

With the front door shut firmly behind him, House looked at his bike which was parked across the street from the house. It would be so easy to just hop on it, speed all the way to the hospital, submerge himself in another impossible case and, for as long as possible, and forget about everything else in his life. But somehow, he didn't want to do that.

Turning back to the door, ready to go back inside, undetected, House looked at the key hole and cursed.

"Shit!" He'd left the key inside, on the little table next to the door.

Taking a step back, he looked at Cuddy's house and began his limp around the premises, hoping to find a way in.

And then he found it. Boy was Cuddy going to be mad. He knew she would be, but on top of the fact that, breaking this window and sticking his hand in to open the back door would get him to her, it was incredibly thrilling, like lying to her, or all the insults, it was something forbidden, something he wasn't supposed, or even legally allowed, to do. And that exactly the kind of thing that House loved doing.

TBC

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