Hi everybody! I'm on vacation so I seized the opportunity to write because otherwise, I would've had no time to do it...
anyway, here's chapter 66, where finally, our Bostonian lovebirds are back to PPTH. And of course, life tends to be less idyllic there… :-|
** CHAPTER 66 **
It was early in the morning. Not too early, but still early enough for the team to be surprised to hear that joyful, humming sound coming from the hallway.
"You say yes; I say no… you say stop, and I say go, go, go, go…"
When they heard the first notes of the Beatles song, they promptly tilted their head up, in perfect sync, just in time to see House's limping silhouette, passing in front of them, through the glass walls of the conference room. A few steps later, he entered the room, theatrically pushing the door open and finishing his little refrain, with a beaming face.
"You say goodbye and I say… Hello!"
The four doctors stared at him, almost paralyzed, not daring to say a word, until after a few fleeting seconds, Kutner got up and approached House, who at first seemed taken aback but swiftly regained composure and straightened himself, holding the tip of his cane up like a menacing sword.
"Kutner! I'm warning you, if you hug me, I'll be forced to break your ribs!"
Kutner froze and instantly made a U-turn, heading toward the coffee machine and pretending that pouring himself a cup was his plan all along. House smiled at his reaction and hung his backpack to the coat rack. Then he took his leather jacket off and hung it as well. Carrying his mug in his hand, Kutner walked back to the table and sat down, gazing offhandedly down at the content of an open file, ignoring the other ones' amused looks.
With a broad grin, House approached the glass table and grabbed the file Kutner was looking at. He opened it and glanced down at the content of the pages, while the ducklings, who hadn't uttered a single word – too preoccupied to hide both their surprise and somehow undeniable glee to see their mentor back – kept staring at him, almost breathless. Perfectly aware of their intense gazes on him, House continued to smile until, without lifting his head up, he finally spoke.
"37-year-old woman admitted two days ago for joint pain and a stiff neck? That's all you've got? Damn, I thought I'd trained you better at stealing Cameron's interesting cases," he puffed.
House shut the file and frowned disapprovingly.
"Give her some Ibuprofen and tell her to slow down on the yoga sessions: the inverted Lotus position should be forbidden for women over twenty."
A short silence filled the room, almost religious as if the sound of House's voice, finally echoing against the walls of the Department of Diagnostics' conference room again had hypnotized them all.
No allusion about his absence. No explanation. No overly emotional 'good to see you back' speech. That's the way it went. But at the same time, there was no need to say anything because once House had stepped inside the room, he'd claimed his position as Head of the department back.
Actually, he didn't even have to claim it: he just had to stand there and that was it. There he was, back. The boss. The natural leader. The one whose extravagances, no matter how crazy, could still federate the energy of four devoted doctors, ready to satisfy his every whim.
"Jenny Reed had her fourth child six weeks ago. I doubt that her preoccupation is about practicing sport right now, especially when she had to undergo a C-section to give birth," Foreman answered with a slightly smug smile.
Ok. Maybe that leader thing was not as obvious as it seemed. But God! It felt so good anyway! House briefly locked eyes with Foreman and gave him his smile back.
"And she also falls, for no particular reason. Her husband says she's walking, and suddenly she feels dizzy and trips," Thirteen continued. "Apparently it's just appeared recently."
"Yeah! Incredible, right? Four kids, a C-section, a husband who's probably waiting to have his fair share of cuddles as well and let me guess… I bet she breast feeds! So, wow, how come super mommy doesn't make it without being a little tired? Wonder why, really," House commented gruffly, incapable of hiding the undeniable pleasure he was taking in that verbal sparring.
"She used to, but not anymore," Kutner deadpanned, turning his head toward House, who was standing at the end of the glass table.
House looked down at him and squinted.
"Breast-feed I mean," he clarified. "She did that the first month, but she stopped two weeks ago because she had mastitis. She's on Bromocriptine now."
"Thank you, Kutner: You spared me the reading of at least, ooh, two lines in that file and, you just solved the case! Coz, as we all know, one of Bromocriptine side effects is-"
He waved his hands in front of him to encourage them to complete his sentence.
"Dizziness?" Thirteen suggested, hesitantly.
"Yep! I'm sure our patient really wishes she were a heroic mommy with superpowers, but eventually she's just a human being with a bunch of ungrateful brats sucking the life out of her! Joint pain is a post-op temporary effect due to the C-section. It will subside within a few days if she just accepts to rest instead of trying to earn an article in the Guinness book for most devoted mommy of the year. It's as stupid as being intent on breast-feeding her brat. Luckily for her, her body sent that convenient mastitis to buy her a ticket out of it, or she would still spend her nights awake, trying to suckle her starving little mammal, instead of sleeping peacefully while the dad would do his part of the job and bottle-feed his kid. Parlodel stopped the onset of lactation, gave her the vertigo, she tripped. End of story. Not even challenging. Thanks everyone. T'was nice seeing you."
House theatrically threw the blue folder back on the glass conference table, on which it slid, until Thirteen blocked it with her hand. In that instant, House's smile was undeniably teasing, and no member of the team could ignore it. Kutner grabbed his file again and tilted his head up.
"Unfortunately, it's not exactly all that simple," he said, giving House his smile back. "Yesterday, when I came in her room to draw some blood, I've noticed her drooling a little. And her face is twitching-"
House instantly snatched the file from his hands again and turned a few pages back and forth.
"Bell's Palsy?" he said, following Kutner's clues, and raising his eyebrows with a new-found interest. "Hm, if she fell then she could have either hit her head or-"
"No sign of head trauma," Foreman interrupted.
"I'm not saying she has. But I assume you did a CT-scan to check, anyway?" House answered, without missing a beat.
"Yes, but we-"
"You obviously didn't look in the right place," House went on, challengingly.
"You mean, if we look deeper there could be a brainstem tumor!" Thirteen exclaimed, not even paying attention to Foreman's annoyed face.
"Or it could just be an infection," he contradicted, staring at Thirteen with a daring look.
"Meningitis?" Kutner proposed, unconvincingly. "It'd explain the stiff neck."
"Or Lyme Disease," Taub jumped in, finally joining the conversation. "If she was misdiagnosed, she could've carried the infection during months without it being treated."
"OK, guys!" House exclaimed, silencing them all. "Foreman, Thirteen, do another CT-scan, and check the brainstem this time! Taub, Kutner, book an exam room to do the LP and test her for meningitis. And before that, go see if there's still enough blood to test for Lyme disease. And add infectious mononucleosis, syphilis and H.I.V while you're at it."
"But she just had a baby!" Kutner said, appalled.
"Yeah, babies, the new vaccine against STD," House jibed.
Kutner sighed defeated and got up, followed by Taub. Thirteen gathered the spread pages on the table and put them back in the file, while Foreman swiftly stood up and started to head toward the door with an upset look. House stopped him on his way out and everybody froze, looking at him, intrigued.
"Oh, and for those of you who still wonder, yes, I'm doing the boss. And by that, I mean… exactly what I mean by that!" he said joyfully, with a wicked smile. "But if you think it gives you a free pass to ball up medical procedures, you're wrong. I, only, can do that, so don't mess it up, coz I have no intention of pleading your cause if you do. Cuddy and I have lots of better things to do when we meet, if you know what I mean," he added, waggling his eyebrows playfully.
Except for Foreman, who couldn't repress a smile, they all froze, completely stunned, jaw dropped in utter surprise. House found it absolutely delightful to watch. He waited for some few extra seconds and then, jolting the whole team awake, he exclaimed:
"Tests, everybody! Come on, chop, chop!"
Foreman exited first. Thirteen gave House an incredulous stare and opened her mouth, as if she were about to make a comment, but she bit her lip and walked out instead, shaking her head in bafflement. Kutner followed suit, boldly daring to pat House on the shoulder in a sort of "way to go!" admiring gesture before stepping out of the office. House frowned, taken off guard a little, and leaned forward into the hallway, turning his head to the side to watch him leave. When he straightened up, he found himself face to face – more like chest to face – with Taub who was standing there, his head up, peering at him with a quizzical look.
House silently sustained his gaze, until Taub's insisting stare almost managed to make him feel uncomfortable. He narrowed his eyes, hoping to be menacing enough to chase the little doctor away. Taub shifted from foot to foot and before he finally started to leave the room, he glanced one last time at House.
"Good to have you back," he mumbled, already halfway out. "You look… fine."
Unaware of the devilish, self-satisfied smile on his face, House followed Taub's trotting silhouette with his eyes until it disappeared in the corner of the hallway.
# # # # # #
"You seem great!"
"I feel great!"
"What did Russell say? How are your results? Did House see them?"
"Wilson!" Cuddy paused and looked at her friend with a disapproving pout, but barely trying to hide the smile that lied underneath. "I'm telling you I'm great. How much more proof do you need? My results are fine. House saw them. Everything's fine."
"I'm sorry," Wilson answered apologetically. "But do you realize how worried I was? For you, and for House, too."
Cuddy lowered her gaze for a brief moment. When she tilted her head up again, she wanted her expression to be as reassuring as she could.
"Yes, I know Wilson," she said with a soft voice. "But Greg is right, you care too much-"
"Greg?" Wilson interrupted, amused.
Cuddy's cheeks briefly flushed with slight embarrassment but, choosing to avoid making any unnecessary comment, she raised her chin up, setting her lips and challenging Wilson with a stare.
"This is incredible," Wilson stated, bafflement registering in his voice.
"What is?"
"Well, you. I mean, you… and House. To be honest, I am in awe of how good things are still going on between the two of you."
Cuddy's brow furrowed and she put one elbow atop her desk, cupping her chin in her hand and peering intensely at Wilson. He immediately caught her teasing gaze, and he shook his hands defensively.
"Now, don't get me wrong! I'm happy for you. I'm very happy for you, but if you'd asked me, I would've never thought you'd last more than a week, actually."
Cuddy's mouth dropped open in astonishment.
"Thank you, Wilson," she puffed. "You're a real cheerleader, you know?"
"No, I mean, this is House we're talking about and-"
"And? You think he's too good for me?" Cuddy teased.
She was really starting to enjoy seeing Wilson's get tangled up in his explanations. She sensed a feeling of glee pervade her. She was happy. Happy to be back. Happy to see her friend. Happy to be healthy. Happy with her life.
"Of course not!" Wilson exclaimed. "In fact, you may be too good for him. He probably doesn't deserve you."
Cuddy smiled fondly.
"Thank you, James. But you're stupid," she interrupted, and Wilson smiled back at her. "It's not about who deserves whom. House is not easy, that's for sure! But-" She stopped and gazed into emptiness for a split second. Then, she shook her head and planted her translucent grey eyes in Wilson's.
"I remember that a while ago, you told me about House's inability to open up," he started, cautiously.
"Maybe I was wrong," she murmured, almost to herself, averting her gaze. "I'm not that easy myself, you know, and well-" The words got caught inside her throat. Wilson studied her affectionately.
"Are you happy?"
Cuddy almost shivered at the question. She bit her lip and nodded shyly, not daring to say it aloud, too afraid it might jeopardize the fragile, precious treasure she had finally found.
"So, I take it things sort of went well for you and House in Boston?" Wilson inquired, carefully testing how far he could investigate the field.
"Yes. Very well," she replied, and the smile irrepressibly formed on her lips again.
"Sure! Lots of sex. Right, ok, I see. Please, say no more! It's not like House hasn't already hinted at that anyway," Wilson exclaimed, faking to be shocked and annoyed.
"Yeah, sex. Great sex. Makeup sex is one of the best, you know," she added, enjoying Wilson's flushed face. "But it's not just that. House-"
She stopped short and her face became serious.
"Loves you," Wilson completed.
Hearing the word resonate between the walls of her office gave it a strange echo and Cuddy suddenly felt the place was not appropriate to talk about that any further, even with Wilson. Besides, a quick glance at her desk, covered with an enormous pile of files that had accumulated during her absence, despite Wilson's help, made her realize she essentially needed to focus on her work if she ever wanted to have a chance to go back home before the night. She coughed and conspicuously picked up a file, which she opened in front of her.
"Ok, enough about House and me," she decreed dismissively. "I'd love to share more gossips about my sex life with you, but I'm sure it's not the sole purpose of you coming to see me in the first place. So, tell me what brings you here?"
Wilson sighed resignedly.
"I'm here about the Board meeting."
"But it's not until next week. Can't it wait another day or two?" Cuddy puffed, unable to hide her annoyance. "As you can see, I have tons of things to take care of first."
"Thing is, Campbell asked to move it forward to Thursday."
"Thursday? You mean in two days?" A look of panic briefly passed on her face. "Why would he ask that?" she asked worriedly. "Is there a problem?"
Wilson's lips twitched nervously, and he looked down at the floor, embarrassed.
"No, no. Not exactly a problem. More like-"
"Come on, Wilson, spit it out already!" she commanded, growing impatient.
Wilson took a deep breath and came closer to the edge of her desk.
"You left quite unexpectedly, just before the budget voting sessions. The Board, with Campbell leading the movement, just wants to make sure you're still doing what needs to be done."
It was obvious Wilson was really genuinely contrite for being the one telling her about that. Cuddy tried to regain some assertiveness and straightened her shoulders proudly, clenching her jaw, as she was stomaching the implications of that hitch.
"Campbell's an ass," Wilson said with empathy.
"Yeah, but that's not news, is it?" she answered, with a bitter smile. "So, what does he want?"
"He wants an early presentation of the costs for the maintenance of medical equipment before he can present his requests for his cardiology department. He says he's been asking for another gamma camera for scintigraphy procedures several times but that the budget never took his request into consideration."
"We don't need another gamma camera. Campbell already has two in Cardiology and there's one in Neurology as well. That's just a pretext," she declared suspiciously.
Wilson bit his lip, and looked down at his feet, avoiding Cuddy's inquiring gaze.
"There's more than that, right?" she insisted.
"Well, I'm not sure, but Campbell started to complain about unnecessary costs, due to the, erm, misuse of equipment that he says are mostly imputable to a certain doctor. He claims that the money could be saved to buy real useful medical equipment, instead of being spent to repeatedly fix the broken ones. Word is, he practically managed to convince Jenkins about this-"
Cuddy sighed heavily and cradled her face in her slender hands, rubbing her forehead with concern.
"I had lunch with Jenkins last week and told him it was a stupid reasoning that made no sense, which he knew," Wilson added, clumsily trying to be as supportive as he could.
Cuddy raised her face up and peered at him with a tiring look.
"Thank you for the heads up, Wilson," she said tonelessly. "I guess I need to get ready for Thursday then. If you'll excuse me-"
"Of course!" he exclaimed, not moving a bit.
Cuddy conspicuously widened her eyes and stared at Wilson's immobile silhouette in front of her. Eventually, he realized he was still standing there, when he should have left, and jumped, before turning on his heel and walking to the door. He stopped at the threshold and turned around, facing Cuddy again.
"I'm sure you'll deal with that without any difficulty," he told her reassuringly. "But you know I'll be there with you on Thursday, so if you need anything, just tell me."
"Thank you, James. I'll be fine," she answered wryly, and she lowered her face down, already focusing back on her files.
Wilson left and, after a few steps into the clinic, he bumped into House's broad shoulders, who was limping determinedly toward Cuddy's office. They both stopped and Wilson immediately noticed the happy look on his friend's face.
"Cuddy's busy," he stated dryly.
House frowned suspiciously at first but sent the oncologist a mischievously grin.
"Aaand I'm so happy to see you, too!" he exclaimed, taking a step toward Wilson and opening his arms widely. "Wanna give me a hug?"
Wilson stepped back but couldn't repress a smile.
"Stay out of my way!" he warned, pointing a menacing finger up at House's chest.
"What are you doing here?" House replied, ignoring the comment. "It's not even lunch time yet. You should be holding dying people's hands or, at least, hitting on some hot female specimen somewhere. Oh my God! Wait a minute, were you hitting on my hot female specimen? I'm warning you, I've become a master at beating competition lately-"
"I know that the concept totally escapes you, but I actually had some work issues I needed to discuss with Cuddy. And, like it or not, she's also my friend, so I wanted to make sure she was ok."
"I'm your friend, too!" House answered with a pout. "Still, you didn't even come check on me this morning. I'm upset."
"Sorry, but your breasts are much less attractive, so I chose to check on hers first!" Wilson retorted, almost accusingly.
House's eyes grew bigger but when he got the implied comment about Cuddy's breast lump and understood Wilson's genuine worry, his face took on a serious look.
"You could have called!" Wilson spat, angrily.
"Not my boob, not my call!" House countered.
"Yeah, sure. Lame excuse. Damn, House, I was worried!"
"You're always worried! Do you seriously think a phone call would've changed any of that?"
"At least, I would've known the results were good. I'm just talking about the minimum reassuring news any friend is entitled to have. I'm not asking for a detailed summary of your little trip together-"
"Yeah, you won't have one anyway. Mature content mostly here, and sorry, but I'm not sure you're old enough to hear about that!" House answered with a wicked grin, repressing a chuckle.
"Sex. I get it, thank you! Cuddy already mentioned that part!"
A slight impressed smile flickered on House's face, and he briefly turned his head toward Cuddy's office door.
"She told you that, really? Oh, the little minx! See? That's why I need to see her now. She's completely insatiable. Won't even leave me one minute rest." He grabbed his beeper and waved it in front of Wilson's baffled face. "She paged me. Bootie call. I can't say no, right?"
"Not sure about you, indeed, but at the risk of disappointing you, I highly doubt that it's her priority right now. I told you she was busy," Wilson said, wrinkling his nose.
"That's what she told you. Because you can't be of any help here, obviously! But I have some irresistible charms you know nothing about-"
"Thank God!" Wilson replied, deadpan.
House smirked and started limping away. After a few seconds, Wilson called him back.
"Hey!"
House turned around and leaned forward, resting on his cane, with both his hands atop the handle, waiting for Wilson to speak.
"What did you mean when you said you beat competition lately?"
House flashed a roguish smile at him, as if he'd known Wilson was going to say that, as if he was almost expecting it.
"I'll tell you if you buy me lunch!" he answered.
"How can I be sure you won't just take advantage of my money and say nothing?"
"You can't." He checked his watch and started to walk away again. "1pm, in the cafeteria, ok? And I don't care who you need to bribe for that, or how but there better be one big piece of chocolate fondant left for me."
"You eat dessert now?" Wilson said incredulous.
"Not dessert, chocolate fondant."
And, before Wilson had gotten a chance to say anything about that cryptic comment, he'd already disappeared behind Cuddy's door.
# # # # # #
"Hi there, sexy boss!" House said cheerfully, stepping into her office.
Cuddy raised her head and smiled half-heartedly.
"Something wrong?" she asked, assuming the worst.
He immediately noticed her weary look but decided to ignore it.
"Nope! You paged me?" he asked, with a mischievous smile.
"No, I didn't. House, you'd better have a reason to be here, I'm busy."
"Case solved!" he exclaimed, almost joyfully. "My patient has MS. It's sad, but there's no diagnosis mystery, which means I have nothing to do now…"
"Nooo, your patient doesn't have MS. Foreman ran the test yesterday. The lab's results are in her file-"
"Really?"
"House, did you read the file?" she asked, sighing.
"Of course, I did!"
"Then why are you here if you already know that it's not MS?"
"You're right: I already know it's not MS," he confessed.
He decidedly walked around her desk, and came close to her, standing behind her chair. He put his hands on her shoulders and got confirmation that she was indeed tense.
"What do you want?" she asked, tilting her head backward a little nonetheless and stretching her neck to offer her skin to his hands.
"You know, I have a thing for this blue low-cut top you're wearing. So, I was thinking about you, and about all the make-out possibilities that this Grand Canyon view of the twins could offer-"
"Please, tell me you're not here for the reason I think you're here," she said, stiffening.
"I'm not here for the reason you think I'm here. I'm here for much more than just that."
He slid his hands from the round shape of her shoulders down to the hem of her cleavage. Her muscles imperceptibly relaxed under his touch, and he felt it. He leaned down and brushed his lips against the warm skin of her neck. Although she was undeniably giving in to his kisses, Cuddy still found the strength to push him away from her, rather firmly.
"House! Go treat your patient."
"My diagnosing offspring is taking care of that for me as we speak, or make out, it's up to you!"
"Please," she pleaded. "I have no time for this right now."
Without answering, he slowly started to move his hands around her shoulders and started massaging the tense muscles in her back. He pressed his thumbs on the nape of her neck and she jolted upward, arching her back on her chair. A moan came out from the depth of her throat, and she dropped her pen on the top of her desk, tipping her head back.
"It's official," House said, carrying on with his relaxing rubdowns. "I told my team they could screw up any procedure they like, and that I would happily get into your pants to redeem their misbehaviors if needed."
Cuddy instantly grabbed House's hands and tugged them away from her neck. She leaped to her feet and stood right in front of him, staring fiercely at him.
"You're joking, right?" she said curtly, fuming with contained rage. "Tell me you didn't tell them that?!"
House seized her by the waist and yanked her inside his arms.
"Of course, I didn't tell them that!" he said, rolling his eyes. "On the contrary, I specifically told them I was the only one allowed to ball up medical procedures and that you and me humping each other didn't buy them any free pass to do the same."
Cuddy's eyes widened in astonishment, and she wriggled in his arms to set herself free from his embrace. She took a few steps away and glared at him with a baffled and upset look on her face.
"House! For God's sake, are you out of your mind?"
"What? I thought we'd agreed to tell the truth."
"The truth? What truth? That's how you see it? You think having sex with me is what gets you a free pass to do whatever crazy things your twisted mind will come up with? "
House narrowed his eyes, intrigued, and studied her, while she was flushing with anger.
"I was joking," he said carefully. "Obviously not really something you're in a mood to understand this morning."
"You're absolutely right! I'm not in the mood for that kind of jokes. At all!" she lashed out. "First of all, this is not a joke! And you're not helping House! I, I-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence and plunged her face in her open palms, taking a couple of deep breaths.
"I bet this has to do with whatever crap Wilson came to tell you, am I right?" he asked, bitterly.
Cuddy lifted her head and looked up at him with concern.
"What's the problem?" he demanded, with a voice that definitely left no room for joke any longer.
She sighed heavily and took a step toward him. House took advantage of it and brought her back inside his arms before she got any chance to protest. He felt her resisting at first, until she unwound and let herself go against his chest.
"I have a board meeting in two days. I wasn't supposed to have it so early and it's a lot of extra work-"
This time it was House's turn to step back and look at her quizzically.
"Extra work never scared you. It never made you bitchy either, at least not for any reason-"
"House," she said jadedly. "I need you to do your job. I certainly don't need you to brag about our relationship even less it being professionally convenient for you…"
"What are you talking about?" House exclaimed. "First of all, excuse me, but I'm not really sure I'm the one bragging about our relationship, if that's your new euphemism for sexual exploits-"
Cuddy's mouth fell agape, and she stared at him quizzically.
"Yeah, that's right, you, bragging little minx, who flaunted our sex life in Wilson's innocent face! I just met him in the clinic. He was shocked, possibly traumatized."
A slight smile flickered on Cuddy's lips, but she repressed it before it grew bigger.
"Oh, please, Wilson is our friend. And I barely confirmed him what he'd already guessed by himself. But things are different with your team: You can't make any allusion like the ones you've made-"
House grabbed her wrist and tugged her toward him.
"Cuddy, don't blame me for something you've been doing since long before you and I got together."
He promptly put his finger on her half-opened mouth to silence her before she would protest.
"This is not about me bragging about us. I don't do that. And I won't. What I told my team is nothing other than the confirmation of something they already knew. As to me bending the rules to do my job, they perfectly know that it is what I do. That's not news. And the fact that you've never really put a definite end to that isn't, either. You've always tolerated that from me because you know I'm good at my job. The benefit of having me as a doctor in your hospital is worth a thousand times the little drawbacks I occasionally throw into your Dean's inbox, forcing you to deal with my crap. I just stated a fact and that's all. What I also said, which you don't seem to acknowledge, is that now that you and I have made an official coming out, I clearly told to my team that nothing was going to change and that I wouldn't use our relationship to help save their asses if they screwed up doing their jobs. And I don't see why you have a problem with that."
Cuddy had listened without batting an eyelid and now, she was feeling terrible. House was right, like he always, often, was. Actually, he'd handled the situation, in his own inimitable way, but with undeniable responsibility and she felt really stupid for being unfair to him, without giving him the benefit of the doubt first.
"I'm sorry," she said, remorsefully. "You're right-"
House wound his arms around her waist and pressed her body along his possessively.
"When am I not?" he teased, frowning down at her.
She shot him a warning glare.
"Shut up. I'm won't cover your ass either if you don't do your job properly."
"It's not gonna happen because I always do my job properly. More than properly actually. I do my job brilliantly and you know that. It's the reason you hired me in the first place. Because you knew I was the best doctor in town-"
"God, you're so full of yourself," Cuddy said, rolling her eyes.
House confidently leaned down and began kissing her, nibbling at her bottom lip greedily. She hummed sensually between his lips and pushed him back unconvincingly.
"Stop. I need to work."
House completely ignored her request and slid his hands under the soft fabric of her blue top instead, climbing underneath and caressing the silky skin of the small of her back with the tip of his fingers. Cuddy grabbed his shirt and tugged at it, first to bring him closer to her, deepening the kiss in a passionate, unexpected outburst and then, she suddenly pushed him away, with as much unexpected, resolute energy.
"Go back to your office," she ordered, panting. "I need to work on my presentation, and you have a patient to diagnose."
"But what about all that crazy sex you told Wilson about?" House asked, smiling mischievously.
Cuddy shook her head 'no' and sat down on her chair, grabbing a file.
"Oh!" House exclaimed, faking to be appalled. "So that was only a legend? I'm so outraged!"
Cuddy glanced up at him, looking perfectly unimpressed. House jutted his chin up and seized his cane, which he had dropped against the edge of her desk.
"You know, I liked you better when we were in Boston," he said, pouting.
Without making any further comment, but with a self-satisfied smile drawn on his lips, he started to walk toward the exit.
"House?" Cuddy called after him, with a hesitant voice. "You didn't even tell me why you came here for."
He stopped and slowly turned to face her. He took his time to peer at her, longingly, until he could hear her breathing speeding up.
"I didn't have any particular reason. I just wanted to see you. Why? Is there a problem with that too?" he asked, a little provokingly.
Cuddy fiddled with her pen between her fingers and bit her lip. Then, she lowered her gaze, visibly wanting to hide her face to him.
"Nope!" she answered with her head down.
And just from the sound of her voice, House could tell she was smiling.
A/N
It's been such a looooooooong time. Again. Awfully long actually. I'm sorry. But just so you know, spring hates me. that's usually the period of the year where I'm the busiest, even if, saying it, I realize it's also true for fall, and most of the winter as well…
Anyway, right now I'm on vacation, and you know what's crazy? I still deal with work issues, all the same… well, you say: who cares? and you're right, I'm not here to find myself excuses. but thing is, I'm not enough of an octopus to do everything I'd love to do. I'd need more arms, more hands, more brain… and most of all, more time!
I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I was so impatient to reconnect with you that I couldn't wait any longer and decided to post it like that.
Even during my past weeks of silence, I still received a lot of story alerts and I want to thank everyone for adding me, or my story, into their lists of favorites. That's incredible! I'm amazed, really.
Thank you to the silent readers who dared to crawl out of their holes and sent me some amazing messages during that period, too. I'd promised I'd do a shout out to them, and I am, because that really touched me a lot.
"En mai, fais ce qu'il te plait!" ~ Maya