Hello y'all!

I'm sorry about the delay between the previous chapter and this one, but I've been a little busy these days. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this short chapter, the following will be longer, and, I hope, will come soon. I thank you for your reviews, really, they're so motivating! Thank you!

Enjoy!

Cuddy slowly opened her eyes, emerging from the deep sleep she'd been in. She couldn't remember the last time she slept that comfortably, even though the circumstances. It'd been two long and exhausting days, and she could say that the coming would be even harder, but when she woke up, she couldn't restrain a feeling of contentment she didn't feel in what seemed to be forever. She felt light and … Happy. It was, she knew, because of the man that curled his warm arms around her and slept stuck to her body. She thoughtfully wondered if it would last.

But he wasn't next to her anymore. A vague wave of panic surrounded her as she felt the hospital bed and found nothing but cold sheet. Cuddy jumped on her feet in an instinctive movement to find him. Calling his name, she looked around in hope to see him suddenly appear to her eyes, but the room wasn't that big and she quickly figured out House was no long in it.

"House?" Cuddy called him again, checking in the tiny closet. Empty. She was considering calling a nurse to ask her where House had vanished when she heard a muffled sound of a flush been pulled in the adjacent bathroom.

"Here!" he called in an annoyed voice.

A sound of a flush later, Cuddy was kneeling beside him, mechanically rubbing his back as he leaned again toward the toilet bowl, his stomach threatening to throw out the rest of its content. He didn't push her away, welcoming a familiar presence. The thought that he'd never felt the need not to be alone crossed his mind but vanished quickly as his stomach didn't allow him to think further.

"Can you hold my hair, please?" he said mockingly, looking at her for a second before turning to the porcelain seat again.

Cuddy shook lightly her head and stood up, looking for something. "Why are you dressed?" she asked, handing him the toilet-paper. She hadn't notice it before.

"You'd prefer me undressed?" he retorted, trying to smirk and weakly raising an eyebrow. He saw her slightly smiling as she rolled her eyes in fake despair and accepted her help to stand on his feet. He wondered where his cane was.

He achieved cleaning his face and mouth and tuned around to face her. She approached him, offering her help to regain the room. Again, he didn't resist and put an arm around her shoulders. "I prefer you laying and having some rest," Cuddy said, gesturing to the hospital bed.

He unhooked his arm from her shoulder and pulled away, trying to find his balance. He leaned on the doorframe and locked his eyes with hers and, inevitably, his heart flickered to the worry he read in her blue-gray eyes.

House considered her a few more seconds before finally leaning over her and grazing her lips with his, relishing the sweet flavor of strawberry on them. He didn't try to go further to deepen the kiss, letting her take the initiative. Which she did, with mitigated feelings. She felt at ease in his embrace, but in the same time, a strange feeling melted into the latter. She felt like it was wrong, like they hadn't the right to while Wilson was grieving.

"This is awkward," she said once their lips parted, stepping back.

"I rinsed my mouth," he said on his defense, half-jokingly.

"I know, I wasn't talking about that," Cuddy said, not entering in his game. "Let's put you back to bed."

"I'm going home," House said after a while, trying to make a step forward.

"Absolutely." Her frown contradicted her verbal agreement.

"I'm okay," he simply said.

With her arms crossed over her chest, she leaned on the opposite side of the doorframe and defiantly looked at him, waiting for his genius and valuable excuse. "I don't want to see him," House said, making his way inside the room with difficulty.

Cuddy stood there, motionless, still assimilating the meaning of what he'd said. It was valuable excuse and it made her feel an unknown and deep sadness that she'd never felt before. She followed him to the room after a sigh.

"I'll give you a ride," Cuddy offered, handing him his cane.

He simply nodded as he sat down on the bed as she went to the nurse station to complete the procedure so he could get out of the hospital. This is awkward. Her reaction didn't left him motionless, his brain was tempting to analyze and figure out what was the meaning of those words, and what she felt exactly about 'this'.

A tiny smile appeared on his lips, himself didn't know what was the outcome of what was happening between them, he wasn't even able to define exactly what it meant to him, and even less to them. He managed to get up without too much hurt and started to pick up his clothes while waiting for her.

House met his reflection on the tiny mirror inside the closet and sighed. He looked tired to no end. His beard was thicker than usual and his features were gaunt, wrinkles and wounds appearing more evidently. He was floating in his black shirt and his jeans needed a tighter belt. He shook his head and run a hand on his face, he needed to surface.

He put a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in his back bag as he heard her entering the room and push away his thoughts, he'd have enough time to cogitate once at home. With a light shook of his head and without an exchanged word, they made their way to the parking lot where Cuddy's car was parked.

TBC...

Thanks for reading, and comments are loved! :)