Ch 34: Shiny Happy People Bite the Dust

As promised, House took his fiancé to bed as soon as they pulled into her driveway. Rachel had been handed off to Wilson and Thirteen for the evening so Cuddy felt free enough to get a bit loud, which spurred House on. He particularly enjoyed her yelled exclamation that he was a sex god, for which he rewarded her by pounding her into the mattress even harder than before. "I really missed you…and your enthusiastic lovemaking while we were apart," she breathed as he settled into bed beside her, snuggling up to her for warmth.

"I missed you too," he admitted, hoping that she couldn't see the sadness in his eyes in the dim light.

"In a few months we'll be married, though," she pointed out brightly. "And we won't have to worry about all of this bullshit."

House sighed. "Actually we'll always have to deal with bullshit as we've incorporated it into our lives by the actions we choose to perform. You're marrying a complete ass hole…I just hope you'll be able to live with me and deal with it without going insane or hating me."

"I will never hate you," she replied, kissing him soundly. "I might kill you, though…just keep that in mind."

House snickered. He knew she'd get really pissed, but he doubted that she would actually resort to physical violence to keep him in line. Not that she would be able to do much to him unless she played really dirty and went for the leg… "Are you laughing at me?" she questioned. House put on an innocent face.

"I wouldn't do something like that. I'd laugh with Wilson about you, but that's a different story. He would be the instigator."
"Right." Cuddy rolled her eyes, thankful that things were back to some semblance of normalcy. She really had missed House, but she knew that he was eventually be an ass to her again and was trying to train herself to deal with him without blowing it all out of proportion now that they were officially together. She sighed and settled deeper into her pillow, breathing in the familiar scent of her fabric softener mixed with House's particular scent. Smelling him inexplicably made her feel comfortable.

As she drifted off to sleep, House watched her eyes flutter and his heart skipped a beat. They had great sex and interesting conversations, he could admit, but he was still a bit unsure of how he felt about getting married. He loved Cuddy, of course, but the entire idea of marriage was mostly for her benefit…sort of a public announcement that he was committed to her. He sighed and wrapped his arms a bit more tightly around her, knowing that this was a step in the direction of growing up…maturing. It was a bookmark in the novel of his life. He drifted off quickly as well, dwelling on the thoughts of the woman in his arms in a white gown, professing her love for him.