A/N: I told you they've got things to work through. House is a man of ACTIONS over WORDS. It's very important to him, that no matter what, his actions show everyone else and himself that he has changed and that he continues to change. Remember, change is not easy for him. Baby steps.

I found a fic the other day titled "My Brother's Keeper" and I'd never read it before! It's a House-Cuddy-Wilson fic. House has an on-the-job accident and well...you read it. It's got drama, romance, angst...it's twenty chapters of good reading. It's at fanfiction dot net /s/6127579/1/My-Brother-s-Keeper

Thanks Cherokee Jedi for being my whiteboard. Bouncing ideas off her is lots of fun. To my FF writing friends, thanks for keeping the Huddy alive!

In this chapter, it's Friday morning.

Cuddy arrived at House's apartment, taking the key Wilson had given her hours earlier and inserting into the lock. She took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. She stepped aside so Rachel could enter first, then she followed and locked the door behind her. At first glance it was lived-in but clean. Rachel immediately started looking around for something to capture her interest. In House's apartment, that was not a difficult task.

"Rach, be careful and don't touch anything that looks breakable okay?" Cuddy said, as she placed their bags on the couch.

"Okay, mommy." Though Rachel was a curious child, she was also respectful of other people's things.

Cuddy recalled the last few times she'd been in the apartment and frowned at the bad memories. There had been the night she broke up with House, then that awful night when she and Wilson showed up at his apartment in time to see him marry that...woman. Cuddy still remembered what it felt like to watch the two exchange rings. Even though she knew why he was doing it, it broke her heart that he wasn't placing the ring on her finger. She knew House wasn't the kind of guy who wanted to get married but secretly she had wondered at times what it would be like to marry him. Then there was the night...the last night she'd stepped foot in his apartment when he'd called pleading for help and when she arrived there was blood everywhere and he was pale and drugged and slowly dying. Shivers went up and down her spine as she recalled that night all too vividly.

She ran her hand across the mantle above the fireplace and cast her eyes about the around the living room noting everything was as it was last time she was there. She was glad there wasn't a single trace of the woman who once posed as his wife. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she roamed around the living room and kitchen, touching his things and taking in the essence of House all around her. She'd always felt warm and safe at his apartment and now it was no different. Cuddy walked over to the piano and ran her fingers over the top, caressing its shiny lacquer finish, a smile gracing her face as her mind replayed a certain memory...

It was six months since they'd gotten together. House had surprised Cuddy by making arrangements for Wilson to watch Rachel overnight so he could take her to a great southern blues club in Philadelphia. He told her that he'd found Warmdaddy's by accident during one of his trips to see Nolan before they had gotten together. After a night relaxing in the cozy atmosphere with great food and terrific music, they returned to House's apartment. Cuddy kicked off her heels and made herself at home on the couch while House took off his tie and tossed it on the coffee table, toed off his dress shoes and sat on the arm of the couch next to her, rubbing her neck.

"You had fun tonight?"

"I loved it."

"I can't believe you drank beer."

"What? I've had beer before."

House smirked. "You really liked it?"

"Yeah."

"Good." He leaned down and kissed her.

Cuddy moaned with delight. "I'll take more of that," she said and let him kiss her again. He took her hand and helped her up from the couch and led her to the piano.

"Are you going to play for me?" She asked seductively.

"Hmm...something like that."

House sat on the large piano bench. He motioned for her to stand in front of him, between him and the piano. He removed the clip from her hair, letting it fall over her shoulders, then reached his hands behind her and unzipped her cocktail dress. Cuddy let it fall and then stepped out of it, picking it up and draping it over the piano behind her. She was left in her heels, strapless bra and lace panties. House licked his lips as his eyes roamed lustfully over her body.

Cuddy reached behind her and undid her bra, removing it slowly and tossing it aside. House pulled her close to him and nestled his face in her stomach, kissing and nipping at it, eliciting moans of pleasure from her. He stood and lifted her up and placed her on top of the piano. Cuddy leaned back and lay across the instrument, her hair spread out around her face. House placed his fingers underneath the thin waistband of her panties and pulled them slowly down her thighs, over her knees and calves, kissing every inch of her skin along the way. He tossed the panties behind him and groaned at the vision in front of him. He pulled her off the piano and stood her in front of him. She lifted his shirt over his head and kissed his neck and chest, sucking at his bare skin. She reached down and unbuckled his belt and lowered his zipper. He stood and helped her lower his slacks and boxers at the same time and he stepped out of them, then sat back down on the bench. House lifted Cuddy to sit on his lap. She wrapped her legs around him and draped them over the bench.

"Your leg?" She asked, as she nipped his earlobe.

"It's fine, trust me." He ran one hand up and down her back as he ran the other through her luscious thick, raven curls.

"You get more beautiful every single day," he whispered to her as he left kisses on her neck and shoulders.

Cuddy's heart leaped in her chest at his words and she smiled at him. His eyes were so blue she swore she could see right through them. It still amazed her that House had such a tender side to him. She felt incredibly special that she was the only one to see it. Suddenly, House did something Cuddy had not anticipated. He moved his hands from her body to the piano keys and began playing. He played for what seemed an eternity and she was content to rest against him, skin on skin, her head on his shoulder as he played one of the most beautiful melodies she had ever heard. When he was finished, he moved his hands back to caress her.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Her most beautiful smile," he said as his fingers caressed her cheeks, jawline and her neck.

"I love it. It's beautiful."

"Not half as beautiful as you." He whispered into her lips as he kissed her, then he lifted her gently as if she weighed nothing at all, and eased her down over his thick, pulsating erection. She moaned in pleasure as he filled her to her core. They stayed like that for a moment, her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands caressing every part of her, slowly and gently. They simply relished the feeling of being connected so intimately.

"Mommy!"

Cuddy was jolted back to reality when she heard Rachel call her from House's bedroom.

"Coming Rach," she said. Staring at the piano, her smile widened at the thought of the memories they created that night. She made a promise to herself to focus on the good times they'd had there and let the bad things stay in the past where they belonged. It also occurred to her that those little things he did for her, like taking her out occasionally and nights spent playing the piano for her, and all the little things in-between had been House's way of showing her he cared about her, that he loved her. He'd always reminded her that actions, not words, were what mattered. She never showed him enough how much she appreciated him and spent far too much time focusing on his faults, waiting for the inevitable moment when they would implode. Cuddy really had loved all those things about him that made him who he was and now that they had and now that they had another chance, she vowed to make sure he always knew how much she appreciated him.

She grabbed their bags and walked down the hallway and into his bathroom, where it had all started. Glancing down at the tub, she recalled the many nights they spent in it, talking, touching, and just enjoying the quiet together. She tried not to remember the last time she'd seen him in that tub, when he was bloody and broken. She turned left and entered his bedroom and found Rachel in there checking out House's things.

"Mommy what's this?"

"It's a unicycle?"

"What does it do?"

"Oh honey, you ride it."

"Like a bike?"

"Yep, except it doesn't have any handles and it only has one wheel."

Rachel looked at it thoughtfully then turned to her mother. "That's silly, without handles you'd fall off."

"Some people do."

"Does Hows ride this?"

"No honey, he can't."

"Oh." Rachel sounded disappointed.

"But he did at one time," Cuddy added. She remembered it was one of the crazy things House had done in college. House was a creature of habit and like his guitars, piano, his car and the apartment, the unicycle was one of those things he refused to part with.

"He did?"

"Yep."

"Neat." As Rachel looked around, Cuddy placed their things on his bed, which was unmade on his side. She touched the soft, familiar, Egyptian cotton sheets. The top sheet smelled like him and she held it close to her cheek.

"Hows has lots of neat stuff."

"Does he now?"

Rachel shook her head.

"Come on, we're going to take a bath." Cuddy went into the bathroom and rinsed out the tub and ran a bath for them. She looked through House's cabinets and found a bottle of bubble bath. She shook her head recalling the time she'd convinced him that a bath wasn't really a bath without bubbles. She'd given him a bottle of her favorite bubble bath to try and he'd confided in her later that the bubbles were nice but he also threatened to deny it if she ever told anyone.

Cuddy dumped a a large amount of bubble bath in the water, helped Rachel out of her clothes and then she stripped down. When the tub was full, they climbed in. Rachel immediately went for the yellow rubber duck on the edge of the tub. Cuddy hummed as she washed Rachel's hair and then Rachel asked her mother to tell her a story. And so they spent the next forty minutes bathing, telling stories and laughing in the bubble bath until the water was no longer warm. Afterwards, they dressed comfortably and Cuddy made them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with milk, which was essentially the only food in the apartment. Rachel yawned throughout her meal and so after they finished, she laid her in House's bed, under the covers, for a nap, and then pulled her laptop out of her bag and took it into the living room.

About an hour later, Cuddy was in the middle of an email to her sister when House's home phone rang. She decided to let it go to the answering machine but immediately changed her mind when when she recognized the voice of the person leaving a message.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Uh, may I speak to Greg please?"

"He's not here. Is this Dr. Nolan?

"Well hello, Dr. Cuddy," the man said.

Cuddy was surprised he'd recognized her voice, they hadn't spoken in so long, then again, House had told him all about their reconciliation.

"Please...call me Lisa."

"Sure, but only if you call me Daryl. I thought he'd be in Boston and I've tried his cell phone every few hours but he's not answering. I thought I'd leave a message for him at home so he could get it when he returned."

Cuddy thought House would want Nolan to know what had taken place, after all, the man knew everything about House there was to know. "He didn't go to Boston this weekend. He was injured in the clinic yesterday afternoon."

"Is he alright?" Nolan asked in a worried voice.

Cuddy sensed his anxiousness. "He's fine, really. He's got a concussion and some bruises. The guy kicked him in his leg so...you can imagine how that affected him. He was kept overnight for observation but should be home in a few hours."

"I'm relieved that he's alright. Can you tell me what happened?"

"A man was beating up on his wife and son in the exam room and House jumped in to stop him."

"You don't say?"

"Most people wouldn't think of House as that type."

"Most people don't know him like we do."

"That is true," Cuddy said, shaking her head in agreement.

On his end, Nolan smiled. "You know Dr. Cuddy...Lisa, we've only had the chance to meet a few times. I wish I could've gotten a chance to know you."

"Likewise. Would you like me to give him a message?"

"I just wanted to know if he wanted to get back to our schedule and meet Tuesday. Things have been a bit crazy lately."

"Yes, I know. He hasn't said that he wouldn't be there but I really don't know his plans. I'll ask him to call you."

"Thanks. I know that you would need to talk to Greg first, but I would welcome you if are able to join us."

Cuddy was apprehensive. "Me?" She wasn't sure how House would feel about that.

"I've been telling him for some time that I'd like to talk to you both if you were both agreeable to it."

"I don't know how House would feel about that."

"He hasn't rejected the idea, he just needed some time to think about it. It seems like a perfect time. I'm not sure what your schedule looks like but if Greg is agreeable and you're able to make it, I think it would be a good thing."

"I've got Rachel with me but I can make arrangements. I'll talk to House."

"That's fine. I hope to see you soon."

"Same here, Daryl. Goodbye." Cuddy hung up the phone and went back to her email. She couldn't help but wonder if House would want her to be a part of his session. She tried not to think about it and continued answering email for the next hour when she heard keys rustling in the door. Moments later, House and Wilson entered behind her.

"Honey, we're home," Wilson called out.

"Shh," she whispered loudly, turning around on the couch. "Rachel's napping."

"Sorry." He took House's things and set them on the table by the door while House grunted his greeting and limped down the hall towards the bathroom.

Cuddy looked at Wilson curiously. "He's had to piss since we left the hospital," Wilson explained.

Cuddy nodded and continued her email.

Wilson sat on the couch next to her. "House told me what happened."

"He did?"

"Yeah."

"Did you talk to him?"

"I tried but he wasn't in the mood."

"He's doubting himself again," she said sadly.

"You know that's going to happen from time to time."

"But for how long?"

"He's trying to defy his own logic that people don't change. This is still new for him. He just needs to work through a lot of things. "

"So what do I do?"

"Reassure him, be there for him, support him. It's all you can do. Don't let him push you away."

"No, I definitely won't let him do that. We've come way too far." Cuddy sighed, then glanced down the hall. "What's he doing in there anyway? Did he fall in?"

Wilson glanced down the hall and noticed the bathroom door was still closed. He walked to the bathroom tapped on the door. "House?"

There was no answer so he opened the door slowly. When he noticed the light was off, he opened the door wider. The room was empty and he stepped in and took in the sight to his left. Through the door leading to House's bedroom, he saw House sprawled out on top of his covers, fast asleep, with Rachel tucked under the covers close to him. He laid on his left side with his right arm protectively over Rachel, as if it came naturally to him. Wilson smiled and closed the door, then eased back down the hall.

"I found him."

"What's he doing?"

"Sleeping."

"Really?" Cuddy was dumbfounded. He hadn't even said a word to her when he walked in the door.

"Yeah, right next to Rachel."

Cuddy shook her head in amusement. House was always full of surprises.

"He's tired. The pain he went through this past week and then this...he admitted to me earlier he's exhausted."

"I know. He needs to rest. I'll see that he does that these next few days."

"Are you mad at him?" Wilson asked, slightly worried about what had taken place earlier at the hospital.

"Mad? No, I'm just...well...it's exhausting trying to convince him constantly that he's not the same person he was when he crashed his car into my house. He thinks he's an abuser and not just the crash either; he brought up verbal abuse. All the shit he's said to me for years, now he thinks it was abuse. I've never thought of it that way, I mean he's always been crass and facetious and annoying but it's part of what I love about him."

"You know it's going to take time."

"I know. He's made such strides since he got out of jail. I mean making amends with you, getting his job back, seeing Nolan, doing his therapy and then...writing me that letter. He has changed, he's come so far and then...one thing happens...one cop has to say something and he starts second-guessing everything. I don't know what I can do to convince him that he's not the evil bastard he thinks he is."

Wilson scratched his head. "You've forgiven him and that means everything to him but he's still working on forgiving himself...and trying to figure things out. Sometimes I think he's confused over who he really is. All you can do is just keep doing what you're doing. Like I said, be there for him, he needs that. He needs...time. Just remember, when he tries to push you away, stand firm. Don't go. That's what Stacy did. He pushed her away because he believed it was best for her."

"And him," she said.

"Yeah." Wilson remembering all too well how House was protecting himself when he pushed Stacy away the second time.

Cuddy sighed. "I suppose."

"Cuddy, there's something you should know about...that happened when we left the hospital."

"What?"

"I can't even explain it myself. I took House down to the first floor in a wheelchair. You know he fought me like hell on it but finally agreed. Well, when we got to the first floor, I parked him there so I could pull my car around." Wilson grinned and shook his head.

"What is it Wilson? What happened?"

"Well...the entire clinic staff gathered there and gave House a round of applause."

Her eyes got wide. "No, they didn't!"

"Yes. They did! It's the last thing I thought I would ever see there. Apparently word got around about what House did."

"Wow."

"Brenda walked right over to him and...planted a big wet one on his cheek."

"Oh my God, she didn't!"

"Yep. I think she did it more to embarrass him since he was in the chair and couldn't get away from her."

"What did House do?"

"Well, he said something about the fact that they're so bored with their lives they have to live vicariously through him then he threatened me bodily harm if I didn't go get the goddamn car."

Cuddy laughed. "Poor House."

"Exactly, but ya know, what he did was pretty brave. "

"He doesn't see it that way."

"I know. When I asked him what he was thinking when he did it, he just said he wasn't."

"Maybe he'll want to talk about it later," she said, hopefully.

"Maybe." Wilson looked at his watch. "Shit, I've got to head back to the hospital to wrap some things up. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. Oh wait." She remembered her talk with Nolan. "There's a chance I might need someone to watch Rach on Tuesday. Will you be around?"

"I'm supposed to work but I think I can work something out. I didn't realize you planned to be here."

"I thought I'd be leaving that day but I think I'll wait till Wednesday."

"Good. You guys have more time to talk."

"I hope."

"I'll see you later. Call me and let me know."

She stood up and gave Wilson a hug. "Thanks...for everything."

"Anytime." He kissed her on the cheek.

When Wilson left, Cuddy closed the door behind him and locked it. She eyed her laptop and then looked down the hall towards House's bedroom. She could spend her time working on email or take a nap with the two people who meant the most to her in the world. The decision was a no-brainer. She set her laptop on the coffee table and walked quietly down the hallway. She reached House's bedroom and opened the door and heart skipped a beat as she took in the sight before her. House was on top of the covers on his side and his arm covered Rachel, protectively. She crawled into bed opposite him, snuggling up to Rachel and wrapping her arm around her. Then she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Thanks for reading. It's flowing now so there's no stopping this train. What will happen next? Another chapter soon!