N/A: I realize I've been really bad about updating. So sorry! But I can promise you guys no matter how long it may be, I will never abandon this fic. This is a pretty short piece, but hopefully the next one should be bigger- we're very near the end. And yes House and Cuddy will get some resolution...hopefully ;) Enjoy!

Previously…

"House- we've already talked about this. I don't know what else I can say-"

He made a thoughtful mocking face, "Here's a thought. How about, why you never told me over the- I don't know? Six years that we've worked together? 'Hey House, remember that one night in California? Yeah well you sperminated me'- I think that would've sufficed, don't you?"

There was a quick spike on her heart monitor, and he momentarily felt guilty. But it passed, and Cuddy averted her eyes, focusing on a random spot past him, gathering her thoughts.

"Because…I knew you wouldn't care. I knew you would leave, that you'd say he was a mistake- our night was a mistake. I wouldn't have been able to handle that. Am I wrong?"

She wasn't. It's what he was thinking, it's what House wanted to say out loud. It certainly would have been the truth if he hadn't stolen all the correspondence between her and Julia.

And it wasn't like he was going to form a paternal connection to Ryan over night. He hadn't suddenly developed love for his kid, or had given thought to bonding with him. Instead what he hated was not knowing, it was the mystery of what could have been or might have been that struck him.

"Maybe", he finally whispered taking his eyes off of her.

"Shit", she whispered, gathering his attention once more.

House looked up to see Cuddy staring at her door, and immediately turned his head. Of course, it was Ryan who was finally out of his mandated wheelchair, looking at them blankly.

The Letters

Part 25

Slow

"Well it's certainly nice to know the truth", he let out, a faint smile on his lips, leaning against the door frame.

Ryan crossed his arms, no doubt waiting for either of them to say something, but both were frozen in their spots with their mouths hanging open.

For once in his life, House was at an utter loss of what to say. The matter at hand wasn't a familiar subject, or one where he could fake his way through. He was genuinely stumped, and didn't know how to respond to the result of his biology mixing with Cuddy's.

But after a few moments It was her that spoke up, "Oh Ryan- we didn't mean-"

He rolled his eyes at her, "Oh please. You both meant every word. But don't sweat it, it's not like I care. You gave me up, that's all that really matters, and believe me, you did me a favor."

Ryan paused only to laugh, "Actually, I'd say I got lucky….Anyway, just thought I'd let you know Marina is taking Emily back to the house. Not that you would've noticed."

Cuddy scoffed, stealing a look from House to him, "Ryan-"

Only, he didn't stick around to hear what she had to say. He left without a second thought.

"I have to say, the kid's kind of a jerk," House let out slowly staring at the spot where his spawn had stood only moments before.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Cuddy rub her eyes, "This is such a mess."

"Yeah. Great job," he said with a breathy sigh, laying back against his chair and rubbing his throbbing thigh.

He felt Cuddy's eyes glance at his leg, then up at him, "Why haven't you taken anything?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Where are your pills?"

"Finished them," he quipped.

Her eyes popped wide open, "The ones I gave you? That was a month's supply. House that's-"

"Yeah yeah I know."

House crossed his arms, and she could tell he'd clenched his jaw from the pain.

And the look Cuddy had, made it clear that she thought it was her fault, "House-"

But as she said his name, he stood up and leaned on his cane, "I don't want to hear it."

He waited a second to hear her outburst, but instead it was a scoff. House turned around, intrigued by her reaction, "What?"

"I thought you didn't want to hear it?" she said in a prepubescent manner.

House rolled his eyes, and started walking out, "Fine."

"This is exactly the problem. Anytime something's hard, you walk away," she said right as he made it to the door.

She was mistaken. At least, that's what House wanted to say. He wanted to turn around and tell Cuddy that she was wrong, but the fact that it would involve more unnecessary walking won out.

Instead, House left her room and made way towards his office- where he realized the last of his Vicodin stash was safely hidden inside a lupus textbook.

xxxoxxxo

Princeton, New Jersey

April 12th, 1989

"Do you want any ice cream?" Rosemary asked Lisa, as they passed down the frozen dairy section at the grocery store.

She gave her an aghast look, with a hand on her belly, "Is that even a question?"

Her aunt laughed and opened the freezer door to get a closer look at the flavors, when something caught Lisa's attention from the front of the store.

It was a voice that was familiar, coming from the guy standing at the very front of the dairy isle, dressed in a loose-fitting white button up shirt and dockers.

"Why can't we just bring ice cream," he whined to the brunette in front of him, while pointing towards the isle behind him.

"Do you really want to bring ice cream to meet my parents? Greg- we're bringing the chardonnay."

Lisa snapped back around and started waddling back to Rosemary, holding her stomach as she rushed, "We need to go-now."

"What?" Rosemary looked up in confusion.

She didn't stop to explain, but rather rounded the corner and hid behind the crates of boxed waffle cones, enough so that she wasn't visible.

It all happened so fast, that Rosemary didn't have time to react or avoid what happened next. Lisa watched from her hidden spot as Greg, stopped in his tracks in from of her Aunt.

"Rosemary?"

He looked at her genuinely awestruck.

"Uh…Greg-right?" Rose played it off really well.

"Yeah…I-how's Lisa?"

"How is she? You'd probably know better than me. We don't talk that much."

For a fraction of a second, she considered coming out. Lisa thought about showing him just how she'd been the past few months. It was only a matter of a few steps, and he'd be able to see just what she'd been up to the entire time.

Just when Lisa thought she might do it, and went to take a step, and Greg had opened his mouth to respond to Rosemary, the girl he was with interrupted her.

"Greg? What are you doing? We're going to be late," she scorned him.

The skin of his neck was exposed for a moment, when he turned to nod to the brunette, then turned back around and looked cluelessly at Rosemary, "Tell Lisa-…just tell her I'll see her around."

Then, Lisa watched as he turned around and walked back towards the brunette, putting his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek.

xxxoxxxo

Stacy's Parents House

Princeton, New Jersey

April 12th, 1989

The four-feet wooden cross with Jesus in it, was all Greg could stare at, as he sat in the living room room of the Crandall's.

Stacy had gone to the kitchen to help her mom finish dinner, and so he'd stayed behind with nothing to hold his interest, except for the large wooden cross.

He sighed, and rested his head on the palm of his hand, wondering how she'd convinced him to agree to meet her parents on his birthday. It's not like they were getting serious, or were even exclusive. Greg had only agreed to go to Princeton with her because she'd promised to go to Atlantic City with him for spring break.

In return, she'd made him promise to meet her parents and have dinner with them. Even when he'd explained he was not 'bring home to your parents' material.

The pants she'd picked out for him were itchy, the shirt sleeves felt unnatural around his wrists, and he found himself wondering why he hadn't at least smoked a bowl before agreeing to the soirée.

In the middle of his thinking, Stacy's dad Andrew walked back into the room, holding two cold beers and offering one to Greg.

He gave him a tepid smile and took it, grateful for anything at that moment to hold his attention.

"So, Stacy tells us you went to Hopkins for medical school," her dad said.

Greg took a large sip of his beer and nodded.

"I went there myself. Best medical school in the country if you ask me. What do you want to specialize in?"

Anyone who knew Greg, knew that he wasn't shy. He wasn't timid, or soft spoken, he was always someone who spoke his mind- yet at that moment, he didn't want to speak.

Something about seeing Rosemary in the grocery store had sucked what little joy he'd had about his spring break, because all he could think about was Lisa. Even now as they spoke about the medical field and specialties, he could only think of his endocrinology class- and her in it.

Greg shrugged and looked down at his bottle for a moment, before speaking up, "I'm thinking infectious disease."

Andrew frowned, "You don't want to go into that my boy- the money's all in surgery. I get a pretty penny running the surgery department at Princeton General."

There was a switch that turned inside Greg, as Stacy's dad spoke of surgery. And the only response he could think of was the fact that surgery was boring, that there was no fun in it. But he also realized that if he wanted to get laid that night, then his only option was keeping his mouth shut.

So instead he cleared his throat and put his drink down on the coffee table, "Where's your bathroom?"

Andrew stood up and motioned with his hand, "We're having both guest bathrooms redone at the moment, but if you go upstairs you can use our bathroom. Its the last door on the right."

He nodded once and bolted towards the stairs, holding his breath as if even breathing would give away the fact that he thought Stacy's dad was a bore.

Greg could hear the three of them laughing as he made his way into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He left the light off and stood against the door, closing his eyes and enjoying the dark.

He tried to clear his mind of everything, but when he did that, the image of Rosemary would reappear in his head. He replayed her words over and over, as if there'd been some hidden message in the way she'd said, How is she?

What he wanted to ask was, where is she? why did she transfer? why had she forgotten about him? But then, that thought made him snicker. When in his adult life had he spent so much time thinking about a girl he'd barely known?

She'd been great in bed- they'd been great in bed- he admitted to himself. That was all he missed. It was all carnal feelings surging through his head, his mind was associating Lisa with lust- it was that simple.

Greg took a deep breath and turned on the lights to the awful coral colored walls and seashell accented bathroom. His eyes trailed the decoration in disgust and settled on the medicine cabinet in front of him.

His fingers roamed the rim of the mirror, until he felt the latch and unlocked it, to look inside. There were bottles of aspirin, cold medicine, until his eyes landed on a bottle of oxycodone.

Opiods were an uncharted territory for Greg. There had always been curiosity on his part, but never enough to seek them. He held the bottle in his hand, examining the contents and weighing the thought in his mind. And when he heard the laughter again from downstairs, he made up his mind.

He popped the cap open and downed a couple, pocketing the rest for later.

xxxxoxxxo

The Present

Stacy was sitting at his desk, when he strolled into his office. House cursed under his breath and rolled his eyes, having no patience left.

The last thing he needed was to be reminded he'd yet to turn in his renewal application for his medical license.

He sighed and went straight for what he'd promised himself, the joy that awaited him inside his lupus textbook.

"What do you want?" he muttered, taking out the bottle and calculating how many he had before he took any.

"I thought you were off Vicodin?" she asked.

House plopped a few in his mouth and put the rest inside his jacket pocket. He shook his head and went to sit on his white recliner, "Nope. Again what do you want?"

Stacy bit her lip and fidgeted with her fingers in a way that told House she was there to talk about something he surely wouldn't like.

"Greg…I did something."

"Oh god, don't tell me you're planning on leaving Mark for me."

She frowned, "What? No- are you crazy?"

"-It's certainly debatable."

"Greg-"

"-And if this was all just one huge hallucination it would make so much sense-"

"I lied to you."

He raised an eyebrow, "Can you be a little more specific?"

Stacy fell back against his desk chair, "Back at Michigan- when we were first starting to see each other- Lisa stopped by to talk to you. Remember, you told me if someone had stopped by?…I lied- she did."

House closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seat rest.

"Greg?"

He didn't answer because he just didn't know anymore. It was all a tangled mess that he just wanted to be rid of- out of. His life had never been as complex as it'd been in the last few months, he hated it. And he was tired of it.

He was exhausted. It felt like the lies would never end. And yes, he was aware that lies were like gravity- or maybe fossil fuel- he corrected himself. Humans just couldn't fathom the idea of living without them- and then that thought also scared him, realizing that his overworked brain was beginning to crack under the stress.

"Greg- say something."

He ran a hand over his head, massaging his forehead, "I'm tired."

Stacy scoffed, "That's all you have to say?"

He opened his heavy eyes, "I don't care."

"You don't care that I lied to you?"

He inhaled deeply, "You're not going to let me sleep, are you?"

Although she was taken aback, and House could tell that she was going to possibly explode with indignation over how he was taking the news- he left her in his office and made way towards the sleep study rooms.

It didn't matter that the more he walked, the more his leg ached, or that he felt as if he were running on fumes. He needed to be far away from another human being- he needed complete isolation.

But when he was almost at the elevator,something caught his eye- it was Ryan, playing cards with a random girl in one of the patient rooms. He stared at them for a couple of seconds, before looking at the file on the door.

It was his CIPA patient Kenna, who's sister had died the day before.

House could hear the groan in the back of his head that said to leave- who cared anyway? They were playing cards, and didn't he want to go rest?

Of course, that voice lost out to his curiosity and he slid the room door open with his cane.

They both turned at once and Ryan's smile instantly fell, "What are you doing here?"

House took the empty plastic chair and fell into it with a shrug, "Figure I'd make up for the lost time with my kid. So- what do you think about monster trucks?"

Kenna's mouth hung open a little, and she looked at House, but moved her head to speak to Ryan, "This is him?"

"Yep," Ryan quipped, attempting to look annoyed, yet betrayed by the small smile threatening on his lips.

"Is this your new girlfriend?" House pointed with his head towards Kenna, "She's a little old, don't you think?"

"Seriously- why are you here?"

House shrugged, feeling the Vicodin begin to kick in, "Curious."

Ryan frowned, "Are you-stoned?"

He rolled his eyes and took out the prescription bottle to swallow a couple more into his mouth, "My leg hurts."

"Right."

"House?" the door was slid open by Wilson.

"Oh great," he muttered, "What are you doing here?"

Wilson pulled him up, and apologized to Kenna, "Both Cuddy and Stacy asked me to look for you."

Of course- he thought to himself- of course they'd use his best friend to help reign him in. As if he needed help- no, what he actually needed was to be left alone. He needed to leave.

Which was not in the direction that Wilson was taking- they were going back to his office.

"I just came from my office- I'm going home," he lied, trying to free himself from his friend's grasp.

Wilson sighed, and opened the door and leading him back to his recliner, "You should rest."

"That's what I was trying to do," House muttered.

"Right, and kill yourself driving your bike home. Stacy told me you started taking Vicodin again," he added, laced with his annoying concern tone.

"Can't stay out of other peoples business, can she?"

"How did you get more pills?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"House-"

"Can we not do this? My head needs to rest from all the madness."

Wilson huffed, but inevitably nodded, leaving him to rest.

House's head was riddled with pain, induced from sleep deprivation and all of the mess that Cuddy had created.

It was all her fault, he told himself- Nothing was on him. He was right to be mad, and bitter at her, he had a right to act out. She'd done everything wrong. But as those thoughts muddled over in his head, he opened his eyes again- knowing everything that had happened, was just as much his fault, as it was hers.

xxxoxxxo

Princeton, New Jersey

April 12th, 1989

"I told you to follow me," Lisa groaned at Rosemary as they got into her green Volvo.

"You caught me off guard, how was I suppose to know that you wanted to leave because Greg was there?" she argued, and started the car for them to leave.

Her eyes were hot with threatening tears, and she turned her head to look out the window.

"Lisa?"

The thought of looking back at Rosemary terrified her, because she hated when anyone saw her cry. And she felt as if that's all she'd been doing the last year- crying her eyes out. In fact, she was amazed that she wasn't dehydrated from all the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

Finally, she wiped a tear away and took a deep breath, "What?"

Rosemary didn't respond, and Lisa noticed that the car had completely stopped. When she turned her head back around to look at her, Rosemary's eyes were glued to her lap. Lisa quickly shifted her own eyes to her lap, and realized what she was looking at.

Her water had just broken.

Coming up:

"What's this?" Cuddy flapped the paper around in Nurse Previn's face.

She shrugged, "It was on your desk, addressed to you. I didn't read it."

Cuddy was aware that her mouth was hanging slightly open, and that multiple pairs of eyes were on her. But it didn't matter, her life would be in disarray again if the note was true.

She looked down at the crumpled paper in her trembling hands, and read the last line over again…