Waiting for Cuddy
Author:hugh_lover4ever
Title:Waiting for Cuddy
Rating: G
Prompts: House saves Cuddy, House stalks Cuddy (not in the super creepy way but like he does on the show), library.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. I don't own House or Cuddy TPTB do. Also, any other characters created within are a product of my fertile imagination so any resemblance to an actual person is unintentional and merely coincidental.
Gregory House wrapped his arms around his body trying to keep warm. He looked at his watch, 12:32 a.m. ‘Where the hell is she,’ he thought. He stamped his foot and heard the frozen snow crackle beneath his boots. He pulled the collar of his winter coat up around his neck and not for the first time wished he had brought his scarf. He had decided against it. It was bad enough standing outside in the middle of the night waiting for a girl to appear from the library’s side doors doing it with a scarf around his face would probably get him arrested.
He wasn’t trying to get arrested. He was trying to meet Lisa Cuddy, a blue-eyed, raven-haired girl in his endocrinology class. She was the type of student who was always in her seat at least 10 minutes before class started in order to get a seat near the front row. But, not in the front row, observed House. She was eager, but not pathetically so.
She already knew most of the students in class and had talked to most of the students in class except for House. She sat two rows over from him and he spent most of his time in class trying not to stare at her. When she looked his way he looked away or stared down at his work. She never made a move to talk to him and House couldn’t seem to find the words or the nerve to talk to her. Somehow ‘hello’ didn’t seem sufficient.
‘What do you say after that? How are you? Lame,’ thought House. ‘Lame. Lame. Lame.’
He looked at his watch again, 12:34 a.m. Damn. The only thing he was accomplishing right now was freezing his nose off. He wiggled his nose. It hurt. He needed to get inside.
House hurried to the foyer of the library doors and went in. A blast of heat hit him in the face and it felt wonderful. He undid his jacket and thought disturbing thoughts. His plan hadn’t worked.
It had been a simple plan but its effectiveness seemed high. Not having the nerve to go up to her when she was surrounded by friends or people in general, House had decided the best way to meet her was to use the bump.
Lisa Cuddy preferred the library in the early evening hours between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. That gave her enough time to get her work done and then go out and party. House preferred to be at the library between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. when hardly anybody was around and he could work privately. Occasionally their paths crossed as he was going in and she was coming out. She always used the side door because it was the best way to get to her residence where she dropped off her books before heading off to the student centre with her friends.
House used the side door because she did. On this night, he had planned to literally bump into her at the doorway as she was coming out and he was going in. He would accidentally pickpocket her wallet. He would go find her at the student centre to give it back to her. She would be appreciative and thank him. He would ask her, ‘how about having a drink with me? She would say, ‘yes.’
House knew it would be a yes. She couldn’t say no to him after he returned her wallet. Her guilt complex wouldn’t let her. Why she had a guilt complex House didn’t know, but he knew it was there and it intrigued him. The plan failed because Lisa didn’t show and that didn’t make sense.
It didn’t make sense because it was Thursday night: university party night. Cuddy stayed at the library until midnight Thursday nights to feed her guilt complex. ‘A good girl complex really,’ considered House. She was a studious good girl in the evening to balance out the bad party girl at night. Add in the fact that it was close to midterm and everyone was inundated with work and there was no reason for Cuddy not to be in the library. There was also no reason for her not to be coming out of it at midnight. Cuddy didn’t leave her work to the last second which meant she never had to pull an all-nighter at the library. And, she did like party night.
House knew she always sat at a table on the third floor near the east stairway and not near the elevator or the west stairway, which was always busy because of the vending machines on floors 1, 3, & 5. The second floor held the periodicals; the third floor was the arts floor and the fourth floor science, specifically medicine. Cuddy could move easily between floors by way of the east staircase while also maintaining a high level of privacy by avoiding the crowd. House decided to head there now. He didn’t know what he would say to her if he found her but he needed to know why she didn’t show. He needed to see her.
House took the steps up to the third floor two at a time. He pushed through the metal fire door and found Cuddy’s table. He found her winter coat hanging on the back of a chair. It was a simple knee length black woolen coat except for two red stripes that circled the bottom hem. Some books, clearly marked with her name, were spread out on the table. A notebook was sitting open so House read it. It was open to a bibliography. Cuddy was double-checking her sources. He noticed a library stub sitting on the table. It was a one hour check-out notice for a periodical that wasn’t allowed to leave the library. The slip showed the periodical return hour as midnight. That collaborated House’s theory that Cuddy was supposed to leave the library at midnight. She returns the periodical. She leaves.
‘And, the doorway bump plan works except it didn’t,’ thought House. House checked his watch, 12:46 a.m. and no sign of Cuddy. He decided to check for her in periodicals.
Steve “Gilligan” Merchant was working the desk. He was nicknamed Gilligan because he looked like the namesake from Gilligan’s Island. He was tall, slender, had brown hair, a sort of nebbish face and wore a pair of big brown glasses. He was checking through a pile of periodicals when House arrived.
“Gilligan.”
“Don’t call me that House.”
“Have you seen Lisa Cuddy?”
“Who?” the twit asked. He didn’t look at House. He just stared at his library stamp like he was seeing it for the first time.
House glared at Merchant. Cuddy was in periodicals often enough that there was no way Merchant didn’t know who she was. House noticed a scratch on Merchant’s skinny, white neck. It was red and slightly swollen. It also looked fresh, and it looked like a fingernail scratch. House tried to keep down a sinking feeling that was emerging from the depths of his stomach and had a hard time doing it.
“Cuddy, Steve. Long, dark wavy hair, blue eyes, too smart for her own good, overly ambitious, a buxom beauty with the brains to match. She told me she was coming to periodicals tonight. She told me to meet her here,” House lied.
“Oh. Yeah. I think I know who you mean. I haven’t seen her House.” Merchant grabbed a periodical from a pile and entered its return in the library filing system. House looked at the name of the book. It was the same as on the slip he had found at her table. It was the periodical that Cuddy had checked out and obviously returned.
“What time did you start at Steve?” asked House.
“Huh? Oh 10 p.m.”
He stamped Cuddy’s periodical and placed it into a pile of books that needed to be returned to the shelves. The periodical floor shut down at 1 a.m. only the book stacks and the main floor were open after that. Since Cuddy had to return her periodical at midnight that meant she checked it out at 11 p.m. Merchant had served her.
House quietly looked around Merchant’s work station. All seemed neat and tidy. There was no sign of a struggle but House couldn’t help staring at the scratch on Merchant’s neck. He couldn’t help thinking that Cuddy had scratched him.
“Anything else House?” asked Merchant. “We’re closing soon you know.” Merchant moved the pile of books which held Cuddy’s periodical onto a cart. He pushed the cart around the desk. “I gotta put these back on the shelves and then I’m closing,” he said. He adjusted his glasses but looked right into House’s eyes.
“You go. I’ll wait here,” House said.
“Uh, why?”
“I’m waiting for Cuddy.”
“I already told you she’s not here.”
“She will be. We have a date.”
With that House brushed past Merchant and walked behind the periodicals desk.
Merchant looked shocked at the maneuver then angry. “Hey, get out of there House.”
“Why?”
Merchant stammered. “Only staff is allowed back there.”
“I’m staff,” said House. House didn’t know what he was looking for but he quickly searched Merchant’s work area.
“Book store staff!” said Merchant. “Not the library. And, hey, what are you doing? Don’t touch those!”
House had picked up a pile of keys that were hanging from a University of Michigan Library key chain. “What these?”
He dangled them in front of Merchant and pulled them away when he tried to grab them. “The closest locks, doesn’t it Steve? So when you take a break someone doesn’t try to steal your stuff.”
House looked behind him at a small utility closet. It indeed had a key lock on it.
“House!” yelled Merchant. He grabbed at House’s hand but House at six-foot-two had five inches on Merchant. House swatted Merchant away and inserted the key into the closet and swung it open. There on the closet floor, tied up with rope and a handkerchief stuffed into her mouth, was Lisa Cuddy. Tears were streaming down her face. House could see fear in her face as she looked at him and then a dawn of hope.
Someone screamed, “Oh my God!”
House knew it wasn’t Merchant. He turned to find another male student standing there. His mouth hung open in shock. House realized Merchant was no longer there.
“Call security,” yelled House at the student.
The student froze for a moment. He stared with horror at Cuddy.
House looked right into his eyes and spoke slowly. “Call security.” He pointed to the phone on the desk. “Dial 9. Tell them to find Steve Merchant.”
The student looked dumbly at the phone then dropped the books he was carrying and picked up the receiver.
House bent down and took the handkerchief out of Cuddy’s mouth. She gave a quiet sob. “House!”
He untied her. It wasn’t how he had dreamed it would happen of course but Lisa Cuddy was in his arms. She held him tight and laid her head on his shoulder. Surprised by her quick action, House froze for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. He held her tightly in return. “It’s okay Lisa. You’re going to be okay.”
Two hours later, House was standing outside the building of the security office waiting for Lisa Cuddy to come out. He wrapped his arms around his body to keep warm. He looked at his watch, 3:10 a.m. He stamped his feet to awaken his frozen toes. He had estimated it would take about two hours for her to file a complaint against Steve Merchant.
Merchant was on the verge of being charged with kidnapping and assault. What his intent was with Cuddy, House could only guess at. Merchant didn’t have enough time with her to do anything other than to force her into the closet and tie her.
House leaned against a tree and watched the front doors of the security building. He smiled a little when Cuddy stepped outside. ‘Right on time,’ thought House. They walked toward each other.
“You know, you didn’t have to wait out here,” Cuddy said. “It’s a lot warmer inside.”
“Security people give me hives,” said House.
Cuddy grabbed a hold of his arm and they walked to her residence.
Cuddy looked up into his eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you House. How did you ever find me? Why were you even there?”
House wavered under her intense gaze. “Uhm, uhm. Dumb luck, I guess.”
“I guess so. Why else would you be returning a book to periodicals at 1 a.m.?”
House decided not to correct her assumption.
They were standing outside Cuddy’s residence. They stood silently for a minute. House could see that Cuddy was hesitating to say something though.
“What is it?” he asked.
“House,” she paused. “I don’t want to be alone right now. Would you….Would you stay the night with me? I mean…,” she trailed off. “I have hot chocolate.”
House knew what she meant. No sex but lots of cuddling. Considering he had spent almost 40 minutes in the freezing cold waiting outside the library for her and then another two hours waiting for her outside the security office he could use a little warm cuddling, and some hot chocolate.
Cuddy stood anxiously for his answer. He smiled at her. He hoped it was a comforting smile but offering comfort was not one of his strengths. “Sure. I even have some marshmallows,” he said.
“You do?” asked Cuddy, surprised.
“Wait. Did I say marshmallows? I meant mushrooms,” said House. He grinned wickedly at her.
Cuddy’s mouth fell open in disbelieve then she rolled her eyes at him. House could see it then. It was in her eyes, a small twinkle, and then a slight smirk on her lips which grew into a smile. Finally a small chuckle escaped from her lips. She reached up and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. House’s heart seemed to swoon and then dive towards the ground.
“This could be the start of a beautiful…,” he paused, “friendship,” he added.
“I hope so House.”
Title:Waiting for Cuddy
Rating: G
Prompts: House saves Cuddy, House stalks Cuddy (not in the super creepy way but like he does on the show), library.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. I don't own House or Cuddy TPTB do. Also, any other characters created within are a product of my fertile imagination so any resemblance to an actual person is unintentional and merely coincidental.
Gregory House wrapped his arms around his body trying to keep warm. He looked at his watch, 12:32 a.m. ‘Where the hell is she,’ he thought. He stamped his foot and heard the frozen snow crackle beneath his boots. He pulled the collar of his winter coat up around his neck and not for the first time wished he had brought his scarf. He had decided against it. It was bad enough standing outside in the middle of the night waiting for a girl to appear from the library’s side doors doing it with a scarf around his face would probably get him arrested.
He wasn’t trying to get arrested. He was trying to meet Lisa Cuddy, a blue-eyed, raven-haired girl in his endocrinology class. She was the type of student who was always in her seat at least 10 minutes before class started in order to get a seat near the front row. But, not in the front row, observed House. She was eager, but not pathetically so.
She already knew most of the students in class and had talked to most of the students in class except for House. She sat two rows over from him and he spent most of his time in class trying not to stare at her. When she looked his way he looked away or stared down at his work. She never made a move to talk to him and House couldn’t seem to find the words or the nerve to talk to her. Somehow ‘hello’ didn’t seem sufficient.
‘What do you say after that? How are you? Lame,’ thought House. ‘Lame. Lame. Lame.’
He looked at his watch again, 12:34 a.m. Damn. The only thing he was accomplishing right now was freezing his nose off. He wiggled his nose. It hurt. He needed to get inside.
House hurried to the foyer of the library doors and went in. A blast of heat hit him in the face and it felt wonderful. He undid his jacket and thought disturbing thoughts. His plan hadn’t worked.
It had been a simple plan but its effectiveness seemed high. Not having the nerve to go up to her when she was surrounded by friends or people in general, House had decided the best way to meet her was to use the bump.
Lisa Cuddy preferred the library in the early evening hours between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. That gave her enough time to get her work done and then go out and party. House preferred to be at the library between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. when hardly anybody was around and he could work privately. Occasionally their paths crossed as he was going in and she was coming out. She always used the side door because it was the best way to get to her residence where she dropped off her books before heading off to the student centre with her friends.
House used the side door because she did. On this night, he had planned to literally bump into her at the doorway as she was coming out and he was going in. He would accidentally pickpocket her wallet. He would go find her at the student centre to give it back to her. She would be appreciative and thank him. He would ask her, ‘how about having a drink with me? She would say, ‘yes.’
House knew it would be a yes. She couldn’t say no to him after he returned her wallet. Her guilt complex wouldn’t let her. Why she had a guilt complex House didn’t know, but he knew it was there and it intrigued him. The plan failed because Lisa didn’t show and that didn’t make sense.
It didn’t make sense because it was Thursday night: university party night. Cuddy stayed at the library until midnight Thursday nights to feed her guilt complex. ‘A good girl complex really,’ considered House. She was a studious good girl in the evening to balance out the bad party girl at night. Add in the fact that it was close to midterm and everyone was inundated with work and there was no reason for Cuddy not to be in the library. There was also no reason for her not to be coming out of it at midnight. Cuddy didn’t leave her work to the last second which meant she never had to pull an all-nighter at the library. And, she did like party night.
House knew she always sat at a table on the third floor near the east stairway and not near the elevator or the west stairway, which was always busy because of the vending machines on floors 1, 3, & 5. The second floor held the periodicals; the third floor was the arts floor and the fourth floor science, specifically medicine. Cuddy could move easily between floors by way of the east staircase while also maintaining a high level of privacy by avoiding the crowd. House decided to head there now. He didn’t know what he would say to her if he found her but he needed to know why she didn’t show. He needed to see her.
House took the steps up to the third floor two at a time. He pushed through the metal fire door and found Cuddy’s table. He found her winter coat hanging on the back of a chair. It was a simple knee length black woolen coat except for two red stripes that circled the bottom hem. Some books, clearly marked with her name, were spread out on the table. A notebook was sitting open so House read it. It was open to a bibliography. Cuddy was double-checking her sources. He noticed a library stub sitting on the table. It was a one hour check-out notice for a periodical that wasn’t allowed to leave the library. The slip showed the periodical return hour as midnight. That collaborated House’s theory that Cuddy was supposed to leave the library at midnight. She returns the periodical. She leaves.
‘And, the doorway bump plan works except it didn’t,’ thought House. House checked his watch, 12:46 a.m. and no sign of Cuddy. He decided to check for her in periodicals.
Steve “Gilligan” Merchant was working the desk. He was nicknamed Gilligan because he looked like the namesake from Gilligan’s Island. He was tall, slender, had brown hair, a sort of nebbish face and wore a pair of big brown glasses. He was checking through a pile of periodicals when House arrived.
“Gilligan.”
“Don’t call me that House.”
“Have you seen Lisa Cuddy?”
“Who?” the twit asked. He didn’t look at House. He just stared at his library stamp like he was seeing it for the first time.
House glared at Merchant. Cuddy was in periodicals often enough that there was no way Merchant didn’t know who she was. House noticed a scratch on Merchant’s skinny, white neck. It was red and slightly swollen. It also looked fresh, and it looked like a fingernail scratch. House tried to keep down a sinking feeling that was emerging from the depths of his stomach and had a hard time doing it.
“Cuddy, Steve. Long, dark wavy hair, blue eyes, too smart for her own good, overly ambitious, a buxom beauty with the brains to match. She told me she was coming to periodicals tonight. She told me to meet her here,” House lied.
“Oh. Yeah. I think I know who you mean. I haven’t seen her House.” Merchant grabbed a periodical from a pile and entered its return in the library filing system. House looked at the name of the book. It was the same as on the slip he had found at her table. It was the periodical that Cuddy had checked out and obviously returned.
“What time did you start at Steve?” asked House.
“Huh? Oh 10 p.m.”
He stamped Cuddy’s periodical and placed it into a pile of books that needed to be returned to the shelves. The periodical floor shut down at 1 a.m. only the book stacks and the main floor were open after that. Since Cuddy had to return her periodical at midnight that meant she checked it out at 11 p.m. Merchant had served her.
House quietly looked around Merchant’s work station. All seemed neat and tidy. There was no sign of a struggle but House couldn’t help staring at the scratch on Merchant’s neck. He couldn’t help thinking that Cuddy had scratched him.
“Anything else House?” asked Merchant. “We’re closing soon you know.” Merchant moved the pile of books which held Cuddy’s periodical onto a cart. He pushed the cart around the desk. “I gotta put these back on the shelves and then I’m closing,” he said. He adjusted his glasses but looked right into House’s eyes.
“You go. I’ll wait here,” House said.
“Uh, why?”
“I’m waiting for Cuddy.”
“I already told you she’s not here.”
“She will be. We have a date.”
With that House brushed past Merchant and walked behind the periodicals desk.
Merchant looked shocked at the maneuver then angry. “Hey, get out of there House.”
“Why?”
Merchant stammered. “Only staff is allowed back there.”
“I’m staff,” said House. House didn’t know what he was looking for but he quickly searched Merchant’s work area.
“Book store staff!” said Merchant. “Not the library. And, hey, what are you doing? Don’t touch those!”
House had picked up a pile of keys that were hanging from a University of Michigan Library key chain. “What these?”
He dangled them in front of Merchant and pulled them away when he tried to grab them. “The closest locks, doesn’t it Steve? So when you take a break someone doesn’t try to steal your stuff.”
House looked behind him at a small utility closet. It indeed had a key lock on it.
“House!” yelled Merchant. He grabbed at House’s hand but House at six-foot-two had five inches on Merchant. House swatted Merchant away and inserted the key into the closet and swung it open. There on the closet floor, tied up with rope and a handkerchief stuffed into her mouth, was Lisa Cuddy. Tears were streaming down her face. House could see fear in her face as she looked at him and then a dawn of hope.
Someone screamed, “Oh my God!”
House knew it wasn’t Merchant. He turned to find another male student standing there. His mouth hung open in shock. House realized Merchant was no longer there.
“Call security,” yelled House at the student.
The student froze for a moment. He stared with horror at Cuddy.
House looked right into his eyes and spoke slowly. “Call security.” He pointed to the phone on the desk. “Dial 9. Tell them to find Steve Merchant.”
The student looked dumbly at the phone then dropped the books he was carrying and picked up the receiver.
House bent down and took the handkerchief out of Cuddy’s mouth. She gave a quiet sob. “House!”
He untied her. It wasn’t how he had dreamed it would happen of course but Lisa Cuddy was in his arms. She held him tight and laid her head on his shoulder. Surprised by her quick action, House froze for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. He held her tightly in return. “It’s okay Lisa. You’re going to be okay.”
Two hours later, House was standing outside the building of the security office waiting for Lisa Cuddy to come out. He wrapped his arms around his body to keep warm. He looked at his watch, 3:10 a.m. He stamped his feet to awaken his frozen toes. He had estimated it would take about two hours for her to file a complaint against Steve Merchant.
Merchant was on the verge of being charged with kidnapping and assault. What his intent was with Cuddy, House could only guess at. Merchant didn’t have enough time with her to do anything other than to force her into the closet and tie her.
House leaned against a tree and watched the front doors of the security building. He smiled a little when Cuddy stepped outside. ‘Right on time,’ thought House. They walked toward each other.
“You know, you didn’t have to wait out here,” Cuddy said. “It’s a lot warmer inside.”
“Security people give me hives,” said House.
Cuddy grabbed a hold of his arm and they walked to her residence.
Cuddy looked up into his eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you House. How did you ever find me? Why were you even there?”
House wavered under her intense gaze. “Uhm, uhm. Dumb luck, I guess.”
“I guess so. Why else would you be returning a book to periodicals at 1 a.m.?”
House decided not to correct her assumption.
They were standing outside Cuddy’s residence. They stood silently for a minute. House could see that Cuddy was hesitating to say something though.
“What is it?” he asked.
“House,” she paused. “I don’t want to be alone right now. Would you….Would you stay the night with me? I mean…,” she trailed off. “I have hot chocolate.”
House knew what she meant. No sex but lots of cuddling. Considering he had spent almost 40 minutes in the freezing cold waiting outside the library for her and then another two hours waiting for her outside the security office he could use a little warm cuddling, and some hot chocolate.
Cuddy stood anxiously for his answer. He smiled at her. He hoped it was a comforting smile but offering comfort was not one of his strengths. “Sure. I even have some marshmallows,” he said.
“You do?” asked Cuddy, surprised.
“Wait. Did I say marshmallows? I meant mushrooms,” said House. He grinned wickedly at her.
Cuddy’s mouth fell open in disbelieve then she rolled her eyes at him. House could see it then. It was in her eyes, a small twinkle, and then a slight smirk on her lips which grew into a smile. Finally a small chuckle escaped from her lips. She reached up and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. House’s heart seemed to swoon and then dive towards the ground.
“This could be the start of a beautiful…,” he paused, “friendship,” he added.
“I hope so House.”