House Fic: right here, next to you
title: right here, next to you
author: crumpled_up
disclaimer: House belongs to David Shore, et al. and FOX. No profit is made from this, only love and flail.
rating: PG
word count: ~3800
characters/pairing: Rachel; House/Cuddy
spoilers: none.
summary: Five moments House and Cuddy spend on a couch.
A/N: All of this was planned and most of it was written (mainly one, two and four) before the promos and the premiere aired. So any similarities to the show are coincidence. Enjoy!
right here, next to you
one
He stares down at his leather couch, picking at a loose thread, trying to ignore Cuddy’s inane prying and worried eyes. He hoped she wouldn’t pick up on his lackluster mood at work and try to talk to him about it, but apparently being in a relationship meant she could do just that.
“Hey, look at me,” she says and gently guides his face to hers. “What’s the matter?”
Part of him is relieved and the other part is terrified that she would care enough to go out of her way to make sure he’s okay. Then again, she’s always been there and he’s been the idiot.
He turns his head softly kisses her palm. “Can we really do this?”
“Is that what’s really bothering you? Us?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t… want to fail.”
“No one ever said this was going to be easy, House,” she whispers. “Two screwed up people getting together doesn’t exactly make for the perfect relationship.”
“I know. I just…”
He closes his eyes as she rests her forehead against his and strokes his face. “I meant it when I said I love you.”
He takes a deep breath and nods slowly.
“Even when you’re ditching clinic and making me insane at work. Even when you leave the toilet seat up and the dirty dishes in the sink, but I draw the line at drinking straight out of the carton. That’s gross.”
House manages a small grin.
“No matter what, it won’t change the way I feel. Even when we’re purple in the face screaming at each other, it won’t change, House. I’m too stubborn to let it.”
He kisses her hard, pressing her against the couch, letting out all of the frustration and doubt that’s built up over the past week. She responds just as harsh until he feels her slide her fingers into his hair and slow down, easing them into a tender kiss. He lets her take control, lets her set the pace because even now he’s not sure where he stands within their storm of a relationship. He follows her lead because if anything, she grounds him and she could be the one to guide him out of this dark hole that he’s sunk into again.
When he takes a breath, he feels lighter as if she put a balm on every slice of pain that riddles his body. She touches his cheek to bring him back and he opens his eyes to find her studying him intently. Then she kisses his forehead, between his eyes, his nose and finally presses her lips against his. She doesn’t move until he responds and takes the lead, slowly opening himself up again. He’s so grateful she’s patient with him in everything - at work, in their relationship - and he wonders how he ever managed to keep someone like her in his life for so long. She deserves better - much better - but for some strange reason she sticks by him and he doesn’t know how to react to that because everyone leaves, everyone lies.
She pulls away suddenly and he’s confused and a little hurt. “Stop,” she says quietly, laying a hand on his chest. “You’re thinking too much.”
“No, I-“
“You are.” She presses another kiss to his forehead. “I can’t help you if you won’t let me.”
He stares down at the couch, forcing the continual tug-of-war raging inside to reach a conclusion. Hide and protect? Stay and trust? It would be so easy to grab her hand and follow her out of this maze, to see this through, but it’d be even easier if he could pull back before he got in too deep. As he glances up at Cuddy, he can see the worry on her face and remembers that while she is patient, she won’t wait forever and he nearly missed this chance. He won’t do it again.
When he feels like he can move, he draws her in to wrap his arms around her, burying his face in her hair.
What did he ever do to deserve her?
Silently, he tugs her to lie down beside him on the cramped couch, her head resting on his shoulder, hand splayed on his chest with his arms around her. As he looks down, he notices the smile on her face, the smell of coconut in her hair, the comfortable weight of her head on his shoulder. He smiles into her hair as he presses a tender kiss to the crown of her head.
Maybe, just maybe he could do this. Maybe they could last.
two
“This needs to stop,” Cuddy announces as she barges into House’s office.
“Napping,” he says, pretending to sleep on this lounge chair, legs propped up on the ottoman.
“Get up. This is getting ridiculous. You need to stop this.”
“I’m not doing anything except trying to taking a nap. You’re the one stopping me.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“Clearly, I don’t. So, if you don’t mind…” House resolutely shuts his eyes and turns his head away, arms folded.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Cuddy sighs and turns to leave.
“Wait.” Cuddy turns around and finds House staring at her. “Which part can’t you do? This job or…”
“Handling your stupid pranks because you’re angry at me for saying no!” She throws her hands up in exasperation and paces from his desk to the door. “I mean, it’s one thing to yell at me, it’s another thing when you’re telling everyone in the clinic that the water’s been contaminated so everyone that has washed their hands or had a drink of water will die in the next twenty four hours.”
“From purple boils that will ooze and eat you alive - you forgot to add that.”
“Whatever! Point is-your pranks need to stop.”
“You wouldn’t let me-“
“Because it put your patient at risk. You don’t need to start an epidemic to get back at me.”
“Is that what you’re in here about? Because I pulled a harmless prank?”
“It’s about why you pulled that prank, House. I know you’ve done them in the past, but never over something so petty as rejecting a procedure. I’ve done that too many times to require such a harsh reaction.”
“My patient could’ve died. I was doing what I always do and you’re the one that’s going off about-“
“You’re angry because I rejected you.” She sits down on the edge of the ottoman and folds her hands in her lap. “House, it’s my job to say no to you.”
“Does it say me specifically?”
“Do you want me to dig out the contract for you?” she says, fighting a grin and places one hand on his knee. “You know I have to say no at work. I would love to say yes to you, but without proof, I have to say no.”
“Last night you didn’t. That proof enough?”
She squeezes his knee. “That’s the problem, House. Outside of work, I can say yes as much as I want. At work, you know I can’t. I know it’s hard to separate work from personal, but we have to because I can’t keep going on like this. We can’t keep going on like this. I’m not rejecting you, so don’t take it personally. I’m just doing my job.”
“Just like I am.”
“House.” She sighs and stands up. “Just… nevermind.”
He grabs her hand and looks her in the eye. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “This is… new and it’s screwing me up. I…”
“No more pranks? Please?”
“No more, I promise,” he agrees and kisses the back of her hand. “But I reserve the right to revoke this for less sinister motivations.”
Cuddy scoffs and pulls her hand out of his. “That sounds dangerous.”
“You said don’t pull pranks out of anger or revenge, you said nothing about sheer fun.”
“For you or for me?”
“For me, duh. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fun.”
“I’m leaving now and doing my job, the one I get paid for.”
“What about make-up sex? I think this fight warrants at least a quickie.”
She stops with her hand on the door handle and looks back at him with a patient smile. “No sex in the hospital, remember? Sex later, patient now.”
She sees a satisfied grin on his face as she walks out of his office.
three
She’s early for once. House wasn’t there last night to distract her, Rachel behaved this morning and she had the perfect cup of coffee to start off the day.
Which only means that something will go wrong later.
Cuddy smiles as she unlocks her office door. Nothing will ruin this. She drops her briefcase and coffee on the side table as she hangs up her coat, then whips around sensing someone else in the room.
“House?”
He’s sitting on the couch, staring blankly, holding his cane between his legs. She slowly makes her way over and sits at the coffee table across from him.
“House, are you okay?”
He doesn’t move or blink and that scares her. He’s always moving, fidgeting, fiddling with his cane. The only time he’s still is when he’s serious or asleep. But she doesn’t touch him. Not yet. He only likes being touched when he invites it.
“Talk to me, House. Please. Did something happen last night?” His eyelids flutter. “Was it your patient?” He looks down at the floor. “Do you-“
“Dead. She’s dead.”
She sucks in a sharp breath. As far as she knew, House and his team had eliminated all but two suspects. Cuddy thought he’d have solved the case by now and was too exhausted to see her, so he went straight to his place or slept in his office again. He looks like he might have anyway, or stayed up all night pacing, books strewn across the floor. She wants to reach out and touch him, rest her hand on his-something, anything-but he still has his barriers up. So she waits, hands clasped in her lap.
“Did you do an-“
“No,” he nearly spits out the word. “Parents won’t let me touch her. They don’t want to know what killed their little girl.”
“Do you want me to talk to them? Convince them-“
“Won’t do any good. I even had Wilson do this thing and they wouldn’t budge.” He finally looks up at her. “If Wilson can’t, then no one can.”
She wants to argue, say that she can and will do anything to get this haunted look of his face, but he won’t believe it and will probably hate her for even trying. “All right,” she says instead. “Is there anything I can do?”
He shakes his head and lets his shoulders slump. “No. Just…”
That’s her cue. Cuddy moves to sit beside him on the couch and takes one of his hands in hers. Answers are important, solving the puzzle and figuring out what’s wrong with a patient so it won’t happen again, they’re important to him and she understands his frustration. Then something clicks.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she asks quietly.
He shakes his head. “Wouldn’t have mattered. And I didn’t want to bother you.”
“House.” She places her hand on his cheek and turns his face toward hers. “I don’t mind. Even after the week from hell, I’d still pick up. I’d still come here if you wanted.”
He nods slowly. “Yeah,” he whispers.
“Next time, just call, okay? Anytime.” She leans over and kisses him on the cheek. “I can give you the rest of the day off if you’d like. Or get Wilson to drive you home.”
“No, not Wilson.”
“I’d take you myself, but I don’t want to tempt fate. Knowing you, I wouldn’t get back for another two hours.” She grins and squeezes his hand. “I don’t think driving by yourself is a good idea right now.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He leans back against the couch and closes his eyes. “Think I’ll stay right here.”
“That’s fine. Rest up. I’ve got a meeting in half an hour and I need to review some files beforehand. I can keep the blinds down for you when I leave.”
He nods, but keeps a grip on her hand, refusing to let her stand up.
“House?”
“Half an hour, right?” She nods, dubious of the eye he’s cracked open to look at her. “Wonder what we could do in that time.”
Cuddy rolls her eyes, amazed that he can leer so well with one eye. “House. You know the rules.”
“I know, I know. Can’t you just sit here for a moment? Enjoy the peace and quiet.”
She laughs. “With you, it’s anything but peaceful. How about this, I go grab those files and sit here with you? Sound good?”
“Yeah.”
When she comes back with the files, he wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and skimming his fingers up and down her arm. She leans against him with a smile. “Keep that up and we both might fall asleep.”
“That’s the point. If I can’t convince you to have sex, I can at least make you sleep with me.”
“As nice as that would be, House, I can’t. I’ll stay until you fall asleep, though.” She grabs his hand and kisses the back of it. “Okay?”
He squeezes her hand and holds on. “Okay.”
four
Cuddy finds House asleep on her couch when she comes home from work and Rachel playing on the floor down next to him. Upon closer inspection, Cuddy finds a purple slug on House’s nose and bright green discs that look like cucumbers on his eyes. Then she notices the little yellow round Play-Doh cups scattered on the coffee table and the floor.
“Rachel, no, honey,” Cuddy says quietly as she kneels down and takes a bright pink blob out of her daughter’s hands. “You’re not supposed to eat this. Did you eat any before I came home?”
Rachel looks up at her and sticks her tongue out.
“Please don’t tell me House taught you that.”
Rachel gives Cuddy a questioning look then reaches for the clay. “Gimme, gimme.”
“What’s the magic word?”
“Please.”
“Are you going to eat it?”
She shakes her head then reaches for the clay again. “Gimme. Please.”
Cuddy hands it over, watching as Rachel rolls it between her small hands and forms a ball. Then she squashes it on the table, pressing hard, peels it off then flattens one side. “Pretty, see?” Rachel holds it up to her mouth and sticks her tongue out.
“Is that supposed to be your tongue?”
Rachel nods, excited. “Yeah. Pretty, huh?”
“Wow, that is pretty, Rachel. Good job. So what are those things on House?”
“Snake,” she says, pointing to the purple slug, then points to the green discs. “And money.”
“Very good, Rachel.”
“Look at this!” Rachel points to a green stick with four branches sticking out, two on each side, laying on House’s belly. “Lizard.”
“Oh, that’s beautiful,” Cuddy gushes while picking it up and examining it. “I didn’t know you could be so artistic. Let’s see what I can make.” Cuddy picks up some yellow clay and starts rolling it into a ball when Rachel bangs another figure on the table. “What’s this?”
“Dog. See the tail?”
“Did you make this? This is really good.”
“Nope. He did,” Rachel says and points to the sleeping House. “And this.” She points over to two purple hills with two little bumps on top. “Said they were hills for the dog to play on.”
Cuddy isn’t sure if she should be enraged that House decided to build a clay model of her boobs in front of her daughter or laugh hysterically at the clay dog standing in between the ‘hills.’ “That’s… very creative.”
“I thought you’d approve of my monument to my favorite part of you,” House says with a lazy grin, eyes still closed. “Well, one of my favorite parts anyway.”
Cuddy turns around and slaps his stomach, making the lizard jump. “I can’t believe you did this in front of my daughter.”
He shrugs then groans, stretching. “What the hell?” He picks off the green discs on his eyes.
Cuddy and Rachel try to stifle their laughter but fail when House looks cross-eyed at the purple slug on his nose. “What are you laughing at?”
Rachel points at him. “You, silly!”
“I’m not silly. You’re silly,” House declares and reaches around Cuddy to grab the yellow ball in her hands. He quickly rolls it between his hands into a snake and plops it on Cuddy’s nose. “See, now Mommy’s silly too. She’s got a banana slug on her nose.”
“Hey!”
Rachel laughs harder. “You’re both silly!”
Cuddy grabs the green lizard off of House and puts that on Rachel’s nose. “Now you have a lizard on your face.”
Rachel looks down with a frown. “Not fair.”
Cuddy bursts out laughing as House makes a green slug out of the lizard and replaces it on Rachel’s nose. “Now you can join the slug club.”
Rachel launches into Cuddy’s arms, laughing. “Slug club!”
“We’ll call you Slug Princess,” Cuddy says, kissing Rachel on the cheek and tickling her. “Are you okay with that, Slug Princess?”
“No!” Rachel squeals. “My name’s Rachel not Slug Princess!”
“I think Slug Princess is a good name,” House chimes in. “We’ll call Mom Slug Queen, okay? Or Banana Slug Queen? How about Super Slug Queen?” He takes off his purple slug and places it on top of Cuddy’s yellow one.
Rachel copies House, grinning. “Super Slug Queen,” she declares, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
“She looks like Wilson when he’s lecturing me,” House comments as he leans over, draping an arm over her shoulders and kissing Cuddy on the temple.
“Oh no, don’t tell him that. She might get pointers from him.” Cuddy tilts her face up to give him a kiss on the cheek before turning to face Rachel. “Okay, dinner time. Go wash your hands.”
“No!”
“Yes, or I’ll keep calling you Slug Princess.”
“If you don’t, your fingers will turn into slugs just like the ones on your mom’s face.”
Rachel runs down the hall screaming.
“Well, that was easy,” Cuddy says, watching her daughter. “Usually it takes more than that to get her to wash her hands.”
“Just gross her out every once in a while and she’ll do whatever you say.”
“Right.” She pulls him in for another kiss when he stops and stares at the slugs. “I’m not kissing you with those things on your face.”
“Fine.” Cuddy peels them off, kisses him quickly, then drops the slugs on his nose. “That’s what you get for making clay boobs.”
He groans in protest. “Not fair. If it helps, nothing compares to the real ones.”
She slaps his chest and moves away from him before he can react. “Get up, Slug King. I’m not the only one preparing dinner.”
“But I watched the kid!”
“For a couple hours while I had to clean up your mess. And you slept. Let’s go.”
She yanks him off the couch and he pretends to over-topple, clinging tightly to her, pressing her chest up against him. He grins down at her and she pushes him away with a laugh. “You jerk. Get going,” she commands as she slaps him on the ass.
“Yes, Slug Queen.”
five
“You know, I thought we’d be doing something more exciting than reviewing budget reports,” House says, looking up at her and waving a hand in her face.
He’s lying down on the couch, his head in her lap as she reads from a file propped up by an elbow on the arm of the couch with her other hand running through his hair. “Actually,” he continues, “it’s more like you’re reviewing the budget that I’m sure is fine because you’re anal about that, and I’m waiting patiently for you to give up so we can get to more exciting things like sex.”
Cuddy snorts. “Patiently? More like Rachel when she wants to be picked up.” She grabs his hand out of her face and pins it against his chest. “Let me finish this one last report, okay?”
He frowns, missing the hand in his hair already, and looks down at their hands on his chest as he threads his fingers through hers. “You said that three reports ago. I’m bored.”
“Watch a movie or something.”
“Boring. Your movies suck. They’re all chick flicks and musicals and Sesame Street. Does anyone even watch that anymore?” He squeezes her hand so she can’t smack him and grins up at her. “Gotcha.”
She whacks him with the file instead. “You forgot Dora the Explorer.”
“Ow. Right, how could I forget the bilingual kid with the huge head and huge hair and huge eyes? How do you stand watching that over and over again?”
“It’s your fault. You encouraged Rachel and now you have to suffer, too,” she says with a grin and kisses the top of his head. “Now shut up at let me finish.”
“What happened to no work this weekend?”
“I know, I know. But between Rachel getting sick and firing my head of radiology and the board getting on my back-“
“The board again? Really?”
“Yes. It’s mainly about Stevenson’s firing and their monthly check up to see if I haven’t lost my mind yet.”
“They’re still questioning you about us? I thought this wasn’t any of their business.”
“They like to think it is, with you being my employee and all. My most problematic employee, that is. I think they want to make sure I’m not going to gamble the hospital away for you.”
House frowns. “We’ve been at this for how long? You’d think we’d be old news by now.”
She shrugs. “It’s no big deal. I can handle it. It’s just annoying.”
“That’s it.” He grabs the file out of her hand and tosses it on the coffee table. “No more work starting now.”
“House!”
He pulls her down for a kiss. “This is our special weekend, remember? No work.”
“But-“
“Nope. Don’t tell me you forgot.”
“What are you talking about?”
He sighs and sits up. “I thought men were supposed to forget about these things and women were supposed to throw a fit when the men forget.”
“Forget what?” she says innocently. “I remembered we had this weekend set apart for us but-“
“Oh you-“ he growls before yanking her over and kissing her deeply.
She laughs when they pull away. “Gotcha.”
“You’ll pay for that.”
“I hope so.” She leans in and kisses him softly. “Happy Six Months.”
author: crumpled_up
disclaimer: House belongs to David Shore, et al. and FOX. No profit is made from this, only love and flail.
rating: PG
word count: ~3800
characters/pairing: Rachel; House/Cuddy
spoilers: none.
summary: Five moments House and Cuddy spend on a couch.
A/N: All of this was planned and most of it was written (mainly one, two and four) before the promos and the premiere aired. So any similarities to the show are coincidence. Enjoy!
right here, next to you
one
He stares down at his leather couch, picking at a loose thread, trying to ignore Cuddy’s inane prying and worried eyes. He hoped she wouldn’t pick up on his lackluster mood at work and try to talk to him about it, but apparently being in a relationship meant she could do just that.
“Hey, look at me,” she says and gently guides his face to hers. “What’s the matter?”
Part of him is relieved and the other part is terrified that she would care enough to go out of her way to make sure he’s okay. Then again, she’s always been there and he’s been the idiot.
He turns his head softly kisses her palm. “Can we really do this?”
“Is that what’s really bothering you? Us?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t… want to fail.”
“No one ever said this was going to be easy, House,” she whispers. “Two screwed up people getting together doesn’t exactly make for the perfect relationship.”
“I know. I just…”
He closes his eyes as she rests her forehead against his and strokes his face. “I meant it when I said I love you.”
He takes a deep breath and nods slowly.
“Even when you’re ditching clinic and making me insane at work. Even when you leave the toilet seat up and the dirty dishes in the sink, but I draw the line at drinking straight out of the carton. That’s gross.”
House manages a small grin.
“No matter what, it won’t change the way I feel. Even when we’re purple in the face screaming at each other, it won’t change, House. I’m too stubborn to let it.”
He kisses her hard, pressing her against the couch, letting out all of the frustration and doubt that’s built up over the past week. She responds just as harsh until he feels her slide her fingers into his hair and slow down, easing them into a tender kiss. He lets her take control, lets her set the pace because even now he’s not sure where he stands within their storm of a relationship. He follows her lead because if anything, she grounds him and she could be the one to guide him out of this dark hole that he’s sunk into again.
When he takes a breath, he feels lighter as if she put a balm on every slice of pain that riddles his body. She touches his cheek to bring him back and he opens his eyes to find her studying him intently. Then she kisses his forehead, between his eyes, his nose and finally presses her lips against his. She doesn’t move until he responds and takes the lead, slowly opening himself up again. He’s so grateful she’s patient with him in everything - at work, in their relationship - and he wonders how he ever managed to keep someone like her in his life for so long. She deserves better - much better - but for some strange reason she sticks by him and he doesn’t know how to react to that because everyone leaves, everyone lies.
She pulls away suddenly and he’s confused and a little hurt. “Stop,” she says quietly, laying a hand on his chest. “You’re thinking too much.”
“No, I-“
“You are.” She presses another kiss to his forehead. “I can’t help you if you won’t let me.”
He stares down at the couch, forcing the continual tug-of-war raging inside to reach a conclusion. Hide and protect? Stay and trust? It would be so easy to grab her hand and follow her out of this maze, to see this through, but it’d be even easier if he could pull back before he got in too deep. As he glances up at Cuddy, he can see the worry on her face and remembers that while she is patient, she won’t wait forever and he nearly missed this chance. He won’t do it again.
When he feels like he can move, he draws her in to wrap his arms around her, burying his face in her hair.
What did he ever do to deserve her?
Silently, he tugs her to lie down beside him on the cramped couch, her head resting on his shoulder, hand splayed on his chest with his arms around her. As he looks down, he notices the smile on her face, the smell of coconut in her hair, the comfortable weight of her head on his shoulder. He smiles into her hair as he presses a tender kiss to the crown of her head.
Maybe, just maybe he could do this. Maybe they could last.
two
“This needs to stop,” Cuddy announces as she barges into House’s office.
“Napping,” he says, pretending to sleep on this lounge chair, legs propped up on the ottoman.
“Get up. This is getting ridiculous. You need to stop this.”
“I’m not doing anything except trying to taking a nap. You’re the one stopping me.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“Clearly, I don’t. So, if you don’t mind…” House resolutely shuts his eyes and turns his head away, arms folded.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Cuddy sighs and turns to leave.
“Wait.” Cuddy turns around and finds House staring at her. “Which part can’t you do? This job or…”
“Handling your stupid pranks because you’re angry at me for saying no!” She throws her hands up in exasperation and paces from his desk to the door. “I mean, it’s one thing to yell at me, it’s another thing when you’re telling everyone in the clinic that the water’s been contaminated so everyone that has washed their hands or had a drink of water will die in the next twenty four hours.”
“From purple boils that will ooze and eat you alive - you forgot to add that.”
“Whatever! Point is-your pranks need to stop.”
“You wouldn’t let me-“
“Because it put your patient at risk. You don’t need to start an epidemic to get back at me.”
“Is that what you’re in here about? Because I pulled a harmless prank?”
“It’s about why you pulled that prank, House. I know you’ve done them in the past, but never over something so petty as rejecting a procedure. I’ve done that too many times to require such a harsh reaction.”
“My patient could’ve died. I was doing what I always do and you’re the one that’s going off about-“
“You’re angry because I rejected you.” She sits down on the edge of the ottoman and folds her hands in her lap. “House, it’s my job to say no to you.”
“Does it say me specifically?”
“Do you want me to dig out the contract for you?” she says, fighting a grin and places one hand on his knee. “You know I have to say no at work. I would love to say yes to you, but without proof, I have to say no.”
“Last night you didn’t. That proof enough?”
She squeezes his knee. “That’s the problem, House. Outside of work, I can say yes as much as I want. At work, you know I can’t. I know it’s hard to separate work from personal, but we have to because I can’t keep going on like this. We can’t keep going on like this. I’m not rejecting you, so don’t take it personally. I’m just doing my job.”
“Just like I am.”
“House.” She sighs and stands up. “Just… nevermind.”
He grabs her hand and looks her in the eye. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “This is… new and it’s screwing me up. I…”
“No more pranks? Please?”
“No more, I promise,” he agrees and kisses the back of her hand. “But I reserve the right to revoke this for less sinister motivations.”
Cuddy scoffs and pulls her hand out of his. “That sounds dangerous.”
“You said don’t pull pranks out of anger or revenge, you said nothing about sheer fun.”
“For you or for me?”
“For me, duh. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fun.”
“I’m leaving now and doing my job, the one I get paid for.”
“What about make-up sex? I think this fight warrants at least a quickie.”
She stops with her hand on the door handle and looks back at him with a patient smile. “No sex in the hospital, remember? Sex later, patient now.”
She sees a satisfied grin on his face as she walks out of his office.
three
She’s early for once. House wasn’t there last night to distract her, Rachel behaved this morning and she had the perfect cup of coffee to start off the day.
Which only means that something will go wrong later.
Cuddy smiles as she unlocks her office door. Nothing will ruin this. She drops her briefcase and coffee on the side table as she hangs up her coat, then whips around sensing someone else in the room.
“House?”
He’s sitting on the couch, staring blankly, holding his cane between his legs. She slowly makes her way over and sits at the coffee table across from him.
“House, are you okay?”
He doesn’t move or blink and that scares her. He’s always moving, fidgeting, fiddling with his cane. The only time he’s still is when he’s serious or asleep. But she doesn’t touch him. Not yet. He only likes being touched when he invites it.
“Talk to me, House. Please. Did something happen last night?” His eyelids flutter. “Was it your patient?” He looks down at the floor. “Do you-“
“Dead. She’s dead.”
She sucks in a sharp breath. As far as she knew, House and his team had eliminated all but two suspects. Cuddy thought he’d have solved the case by now and was too exhausted to see her, so he went straight to his place or slept in his office again. He looks like he might have anyway, or stayed up all night pacing, books strewn across the floor. She wants to reach out and touch him, rest her hand on his-something, anything-but he still has his barriers up. So she waits, hands clasped in her lap.
“Did you do an-“
“No,” he nearly spits out the word. “Parents won’t let me touch her. They don’t want to know what killed their little girl.”
“Do you want me to talk to them? Convince them-“
“Won’t do any good. I even had Wilson do this thing and they wouldn’t budge.” He finally looks up at her. “If Wilson can’t, then no one can.”
She wants to argue, say that she can and will do anything to get this haunted look of his face, but he won’t believe it and will probably hate her for even trying. “All right,” she says instead. “Is there anything I can do?”
He shakes his head and lets his shoulders slump. “No. Just…”
That’s her cue. Cuddy moves to sit beside him on the couch and takes one of his hands in hers. Answers are important, solving the puzzle and figuring out what’s wrong with a patient so it won’t happen again, they’re important to him and she understands his frustration. Then something clicks.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she asks quietly.
He shakes his head. “Wouldn’t have mattered. And I didn’t want to bother you.”
“House.” She places her hand on his cheek and turns his face toward hers. “I don’t mind. Even after the week from hell, I’d still pick up. I’d still come here if you wanted.”
He nods slowly. “Yeah,” he whispers.
“Next time, just call, okay? Anytime.” She leans over and kisses him on the cheek. “I can give you the rest of the day off if you’d like. Or get Wilson to drive you home.”
“No, not Wilson.”
“I’d take you myself, but I don’t want to tempt fate. Knowing you, I wouldn’t get back for another two hours.” She grins and squeezes his hand. “I don’t think driving by yourself is a good idea right now.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He leans back against the couch and closes his eyes. “Think I’ll stay right here.”
“That’s fine. Rest up. I’ve got a meeting in half an hour and I need to review some files beforehand. I can keep the blinds down for you when I leave.”
He nods, but keeps a grip on her hand, refusing to let her stand up.
“House?”
“Half an hour, right?” She nods, dubious of the eye he’s cracked open to look at her. “Wonder what we could do in that time.”
Cuddy rolls her eyes, amazed that he can leer so well with one eye. “House. You know the rules.”
“I know, I know. Can’t you just sit here for a moment? Enjoy the peace and quiet.”
She laughs. “With you, it’s anything but peaceful. How about this, I go grab those files and sit here with you? Sound good?”
“Yeah.”
When she comes back with the files, he wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and skimming his fingers up and down her arm. She leans against him with a smile. “Keep that up and we both might fall asleep.”
“That’s the point. If I can’t convince you to have sex, I can at least make you sleep with me.”
“As nice as that would be, House, I can’t. I’ll stay until you fall asleep, though.” She grabs his hand and kisses the back of it. “Okay?”
He squeezes her hand and holds on. “Okay.”
four
Cuddy finds House asleep on her couch when she comes home from work and Rachel playing on the floor down next to him. Upon closer inspection, Cuddy finds a purple slug on House’s nose and bright green discs that look like cucumbers on his eyes. Then she notices the little yellow round Play-Doh cups scattered on the coffee table and the floor.
“Rachel, no, honey,” Cuddy says quietly as she kneels down and takes a bright pink blob out of her daughter’s hands. “You’re not supposed to eat this. Did you eat any before I came home?”
Rachel looks up at her and sticks her tongue out.
“Please don’t tell me House taught you that.”
Rachel gives Cuddy a questioning look then reaches for the clay. “Gimme, gimme.”
“What’s the magic word?”
“Please.”
“Are you going to eat it?”
She shakes her head then reaches for the clay again. “Gimme. Please.”
Cuddy hands it over, watching as Rachel rolls it between her small hands and forms a ball. Then she squashes it on the table, pressing hard, peels it off then flattens one side. “Pretty, see?” Rachel holds it up to her mouth and sticks her tongue out.
“Is that supposed to be your tongue?”
Rachel nods, excited. “Yeah. Pretty, huh?”
“Wow, that is pretty, Rachel. Good job. So what are those things on House?”
“Snake,” she says, pointing to the purple slug, then points to the green discs. “And money.”
“Very good, Rachel.”
“Look at this!” Rachel points to a green stick with four branches sticking out, two on each side, laying on House’s belly. “Lizard.”
“Oh, that’s beautiful,” Cuddy gushes while picking it up and examining it. “I didn’t know you could be so artistic. Let’s see what I can make.” Cuddy picks up some yellow clay and starts rolling it into a ball when Rachel bangs another figure on the table. “What’s this?”
“Dog. See the tail?”
“Did you make this? This is really good.”
“Nope. He did,” Rachel says and points to the sleeping House. “And this.” She points over to two purple hills with two little bumps on top. “Said they were hills for the dog to play on.”
Cuddy isn’t sure if she should be enraged that House decided to build a clay model of her boobs in front of her daughter or laugh hysterically at the clay dog standing in between the ‘hills.’ “That’s… very creative.”
“I thought you’d approve of my monument to my favorite part of you,” House says with a lazy grin, eyes still closed. “Well, one of my favorite parts anyway.”
Cuddy turns around and slaps his stomach, making the lizard jump. “I can’t believe you did this in front of my daughter.”
He shrugs then groans, stretching. “What the hell?” He picks off the green discs on his eyes.
Cuddy and Rachel try to stifle their laughter but fail when House looks cross-eyed at the purple slug on his nose. “What are you laughing at?”
Rachel points at him. “You, silly!”
“I’m not silly. You’re silly,” House declares and reaches around Cuddy to grab the yellow ball in her hands. He quickly rolls it between his hands into a snake and plops it on Cuddy’s nose. “See, now Mommy’s silly too. She’s got a banana slug on her nose.”
“Hey!”
Rachel laughs harder. “You’re both silly!”
Cuddy grabs the green lizard off of House and puts that on Rachel’s nose. “Now you have a lizard on your face.”
Rachel looks down with a frown. “Not fair.”
Cuddy bursts out laughing as House makes a green slug out of the lizard and replaces it on Rachel’s nose. “Now you can join the slug club.”
Rachel launches into Cuddy’s arms, laughing. “Slug club!”
“We’ll call you Slug Princess,” Cuddy says, kissing Rachel on the cheek and tickling her. “Are you okay with that, Slug Princess?”
“No!” Rachel squeals. “My name’s Rachel not Slug Princess!”
“I think Slug Princess is a good name,” House chimes in. “We’ll call Mom Slug Queen, okay? Or Banana Slug Queen? How about Super Slug Queen?” He takes off his purple slug and places it on top of Cuddy’s yellow one.
Rachel copies House, grinning. “Super Slug Queen,” she declares, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
“She looks like Wilson when he’s lecturing me,” House comments as he leans over, draping an arm over her shoulders and kissing Cuddy on the temple.
“Oh no, don’t tell him that. She might get pointers from him.” Cuddy tilts her face up to give him a kiss on the cheek before turning to face Rachel. “Okay, dinner time. Go wash your hands.”
“No!”
“Yes, or I’ll keep calling you Slug Princess.”
“If you don’t, your fingers will turn into slugs just like the ones on your mom’s face.”
Rachel runs down the hall screaming.
“Well, that was easy,” Cuddy says, watching her daughter. “Usually it takes more than that to get her to wash her hands.”
“Just gross her out every once in a while and she’ll do whatever you say.”
“Right.” She pulls him in for another kiss when he stops and stares at the slugs. “I’m not kissing you with those things on your face.”
“Fine.” Cuddy peels them off, kisses him quickly, then drops the slugs on his nose. “That’s what you get for making clay boobs.”
He groans in protest. “Not fair. If it helps, nothing compares to the real ones.”
She slaps his chest and moves away from him before he can react. “Get up, Slug King. I’m not the only one preparing dinner.”
“But I watched the kid!”
“For a couple hours while I had to clean up your mess. And you slept. Let’s go.”
She yanks him off the couch and he pretends to over-topple, clinging tightly to her, pressing her chest up against him. He grins down at her and she pushes him away with a laugh. “You jerk. Get going,” she commands as she slaps him on the ass.
“Yes, Slug Queen.”
five
“You know, I thought we’d be doing something more exciting than reviewing budget reports,” House says, looking up at her and waving a hand in her face.
He’s lying down on the couch, his head in her lap as she reads from a file propped up by an elbow on the arm of the couch with her other hand running through his hair. “Actually,” he continues, “it’s more like you’re reviewing the budget that I’m sure is fine because you’re anal about that, and I’m waiting patiently for you to give up so we can get to more exciting things like sex.”
Cuddy snorts. “Patiently? More like Rachel when she wants to be picked up.” She grabs his hand out of her face and pins it against his chest. “Let me finish this one last report, okay?”
He frowns, missing the hand in his hair already, and looks down at their hands on his chest as he threads his fingers through hers. “You said that three reports ago. I’m bored.”
“Watch a movie or something.”
“Boring. Your movies suck. They’re all chick flicks and musicals and Sesame Street. Does anyone even watch that anymore?” He squeezes her hand so she can’t smack him and grins up at her. “Gotcha.”
She whacks him with the file instead. “You forgot Dora the Explorer.”
“Ow. Right, how could I forget the bilingual kid with the huge head and huge hair and huge eyes? How do you stand watching that over and over again?”
“It’s your fault. You encouraged Rachel and now you have to suffer, too,” she says with a grin and kisses the top of his head. “Now shut up at let me finish.”
“What happened to no work this weekend?”
“I know, I know. But between Rachel getting sick and firing my head of radiology and the board getting on my back-“
“The board again? Really?”
“Yes. It’s mainly about Stevenson’s firing and their monthly check up to see if I haven’t lost my mind yet.”
“They’re still questioning you about us? I thought this wasn’t any of their business.”
“They like to think it is, with you being my employee and all. My most problematic employee, that is. I think they want to make sure I’m not going to gamble the hospital away for you.”
House frowns. “We’ve been at this for how long? You’d think we’d be old news by now.”
She shrugs. “It’s no big deal. I can handle it. It’s just annoying.”
“That’s it.” He grabs the file out of her hand and tosses it on the coffee table. “No more work starting now.”
“House!”
He pulls her down for a kiss. “This is our special weekend, remember? No work.”
“But-“
“Nope. Don’t tell me you forgot.”
“What are you talking about?”
He sighs and sits up. “I thought men were supposed to forget about these things and women were supposed to throw a fit when the men forget.”
“Forget what?” she says innocently. “I remembered we had this weekend set apart for us but-“
“Oh you-“ he growls before yanking her over and kissing her deeply.
She laughs when they pull away. “Gotcha.”
“You’ll pay for that.”
“I hope so.” She leans in and kisses him softly. “Happy Six Months.”