The Wild Escape - Chapter 6
Title: The Wild Escape - chapter 6
Status: Short story
Rated: explicit content
Characters: House and Cuddy
Summary: After Help Me - This story depicts a vision of season 7 premiere, extrapolated from the various pics that've been available on the Internet lately...
(could be considered as a sort of sequel to "There Is A Us")
Disclaimer: OK. Fine! it's not (all) mine. It belongs to David Shore, the lucky b... * sigh*
** THE WILD ESCAPE **
She straightened up and shot him a panic look, her hands slightly trembling.
"That's not what I meant."
"Yeah, but that's what you said."
"House, I want you."
"Why? Why do you want me?"
"You're playing the insecure boyfriend card now?" She tried to joke, unconvincingly.
"Cuddy, you knew how I felt about you. From the moment I stepped into that asylum, you couldn't keep pretending that it meant nothing."
"And you hate me because I dated Lucas-"
"No. I'm not blaming you for moving on with your life; or trying to at least. I've tried that too. I swear I have. But eventually, I haven't changed. I'm the same old jerk who stares at your ass and lurks at your boobs. The same screwed up S.O.B with a huge ego, who's gonna drive you mad-"
"I know."
"So why? What changed?"
"Nothing changed."
"Yes. Something did. A man asked you to marry him and you ran away."
She looked down, embarrassed.
"You got scared."
"No." She tried to refute. But she was beginning to see where it was going and yet, there was nothing she could do to stop it.
"And you went to me. Because you thought, that was too big a step to take without exhausting all your other options first."
"House-"
"You said you needed to try if you and I could be a couple."
"Because I couldn't stop thinking about you, I-"
"That's not what I want." He interrupted
"What?" The exclamation had almost sounded like a cry.
He intensely stared at her for seconds that felt like hours. A shadow darkened his light blue eyes and he took a deep, wobbling breath.
"You can't just try me. I'm not like a three month trial for cable that you can cancel if you don't enjoy it fully."
She bit her lips and prayed for the tears that had welled up in her eyes to dry.
"I don't want to be your option." He went on.
"You're not."
"Cuddy, this is serious."
"I know.'
"I mean, when we're going to ... IF ... we crash and fail, I'm going to lose it for good this time."
"Don't say that."
"Don't you know how I was after Stacy? I don't wanna go through that again."
"But, I don't want us to fail. I want this to work."
"Yea, but you can't guarantee me it will-"
She puffed. "Can you?"
He paused and looked down into her quizzical gaze.
"No." He said.
"See? We can't be sure. Except for one thing, because I know that I love you." She said with a determined voice, straightening a little in his arms to bring her face to his level and look him in the eyes.
"Yeah, that scares me a little. Sounds like a masochistic thing."
Her eyebrows flew up and her mouth dropped open in astonishment.
"I'm selfish, I'm mean, I'm an addict-" He enumerated
"You're demanding, you're uncompromising, you're trying to stay clean-" She rephrased with a tender smile.
"One thing doesn't change though: you always need to get the last word!"
"Hey! That's who I am. Take it or leave it."
"I think I've clearly made my choice already."
"You made NO choice," She exclaimed, "I was the one coming to you! And I didn't even know if you loved me-"
She pouted like a child. Just looking at her claiming his love with such irrational insecurity and burning fiery at the same time made him relax instantly, and he chuckled, studying her with a new-found roguishness.
"Seriously? When did you ever dread me rejecting you if you'd decide to make the first move?"
She stared at him with bafflement.
"Huh? All the time ... more or less." She confessed, surprised that he could ask her. How the hell could he possibly think she'd ever looked emotionally strong and confident around him? She thought.
"You're kiddin' me, right? You've trampled on me. Crushed me into pieces; and I always was ready to come back and ask for more."
"Umm, no. Sorry, but that's me, here!"
"Sure isn't! Just admit that coming to me yesterday was more like that sudden urge you get to rescue the poor little puppy when you accidentally roll over it with your car, because you were feeling so bad about yourself after all the crap you told me."
"You said plenty of crap to me too, and you're an ass to even mention that now!" She snapped.
"That's who I am. Take it or leave it."
"Are we arguing now?" She asked, a little bemused.
"Not really. We're just making strong points."
He smiled
"That's odd." She said.
"What's odd?"
"It feels no different than usual."
"Yeah, makes you wonder why we waited for so long, right?" He said, his voice barely above a whisper.
She searched for his gaze, but he looked away, almost in embarrassment. She bit her lips and feel a wave of tenderness overwhelm her. There was so much fragility trapped underneath his shield. And it was so unique when it showed.
"You know I never took you for granted." She said tentatively.
"You could have."
She stared at him in silence and shivered slightly.
"You cold?"
The sun has gone down and was now a big round orange blazing ball above the horizon. House reached for his jacket beside him on the trunk.
"Here, put that on." He said.
"But how about you?"
He stuck out his chest proudly. "I'm the man. I'm not cold... or let's say that I'm meant to freeze bravely, without saying a word!"
She chuckled and put his jacket on. Then she looked at him with a fond smile and cupped his cheek in her hand, sensually leaning down to kiss him. He jerked back a little against the trunk, surprised by her spontaneous gesture, but when he felt the soft caress of her lips and her tongue gently beginning to stroke the pulp of his lips, he let go and relaxed under her touch. They broke away from their kiss and she sat down again, snuggling up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths and letting the perfect quietness of this moment pervade her whole body. They remained still and silent, enfolded in each other's embrace for some long minutes, listening to the roar of the ocean and looking at the sun irrepressibly falling down from the sky, turning the lights of day into iridescent evening colors.
Cuddy took a deep voluptuous sigh and rubbed her cheek against his chest, while her fingers ran lightly along the side of his bare arm.
"It's nice here. I feel good." She said.
"So you're saying you like my idea."
"Yeah." She whispered languorously.
He tightened his embrace, warmth spreading through his chest.
"But," She suddenly felt the need to clarify, "It cannot become a habit."
"No, it cannot." He repeated, ceremoniously.
She straightened up a little.
"House, I'm serious."
He smiled.
"I really can't leave the hospital like that. I shouldn't even have left it today..."
"Sure, but you love that you have! Just admit it!"
"Ok. Fine! I admit: I'm loving this wild escape. It feels so good to be here, completely disconnected."
"Hmm-" He mumbled, absent-mindedly.
"By the way, what did Wilson want?"
"Nothing. Just check on me, as usual."
"You're happy to have him, and you're happy that he cares. Just admit it!" She told him, mimicking his previous tone.
"Mrrmmgghh" He grumbled defensively, "Yeah, ok. Maybe."
She giggled. "I won't tell him, I promise."
"FYI, he knows you cancelled your visit for the house."
"What? How?"
"Well, you called his ex to take care of it to begin with, so that's why! How do you think things work?"
"Dammit!" She grumbled.
"Yeah, and now he's going to find out about us."
She looked up at him, a little startled.
"Of course! Because you're going to tell him, aren't you?"
"Do I really have to do this? I mean, you know that as soon as he'll know, we are never going to see the end of it."
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? I mean, we're talking about Wilson here! The guy who paid hundreds of dollars to my team so that they would go out with me!"
"And?"
"And? He's going to make sure you don't make me miserable. Because he knows that it would make me make him miserable, so he's going to be in your office every day, checking if everything's alright. And occasionally in mine too, to double check you didn't lie to him in the first place."
"No, he isn't!" She contradicted as if it was the most improbable thing ever, but sounding a bit doubtful nonetheless.
"You wanna bet?"
There was a heavy silence, during which Cuddy looked straight ahead at the ocean in front of them, contemplating her options.
"We're not telling Wilson." She cut short, determinedly, and she repositioned herself against his chest.
House brought her closer to him and smiled broadly into the brisk air. He was really loving this a lot already.
--> The Wild Escape - Chapter 7