Alrighty, guys. This is my first attempt at a House MD fanfic. Let me know what you think. Will totally be Huddy. Why? 'Cause I can! Duh. Really, though, read and review, because I'm really unsure about this one. You know the regular jazz. I don't own House MD, or the characters. Enjoy! This will have a couple of more... mature chapters to it.

Did I mention 'read and review'? Please do!

Some of These Days

The day had started beautifully. The sun was bright and comfortable, filling the bedroom with the brilliance of a rare, warm winter morning. The light from the window spilled over the bed, crossing in alternating lines of shadow from the partly drawn shades, having little effect on the woman sleeping amidst rumpled sheets and disheveled pillows. The soft heat from the unexpectedly clear morning elicited a slight flutter of her eyelids and a shift in position, not drawing her from her dreams.

Doctor Lisa Cuddy subconsciously refused to be awakened. It was her first morning off in a long time, and she was devoted to enjoying it. She could not remember the last time she had been able to sleep in, her duties as Dean of Medicine at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital prioritizing too many hours of each day to allow for the luxury of a lazy morning. Her conscience was clear, calling in a sick day without having any illness, simple because she and everyone she worked with knew she had earned the right to play hooey. Only one thing would entice her to leave the nest of plush she had created in her bed.

That one thing kissed her on the forehead.

She had been dating Kevin Young for a month, exactly the day before, and was beginning to feel attached to him. He was handsome, intelligent, loyal and painfully adorable. Their dates were consistently romantic and fun, yet she often found herself smiling at how awkward he was. He wanted to please her, to take care of her, and dreaded the idea of doing something to drive her away. They had celebrated their one month anniversary at an amazing restaurant, and then saw a play. It had all been perfect, and Cuddy felt it right to invite him back to her place.

She opened her eyes, Kevin's face a breath away. She smiled at him and he kissed her lips softly. He was hovering over her, sitting on the edge of the bed with one arm on the opposite side of Cuddy to maintain his balance. He brushed the hair from her face with his free hand, a crooked smile on his strong, finely featured face. She reached up and ran her thumb along the dimple his grin created, then, unable to resist, arched her back just enough to pull herself up to kiss that line.

"Sorry," she said, rolling free of him and wrapping herself modestly in one of the bed sheets. He let her go, standing. The two stared at each other for a moment, blushing with more than the after glow of their encounter. He was standing without his shirt on, having just come from the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. She liked the look of his body, muscular without being imposing. Before coming to PPTH to work as a janitor he had been a decorated police officer. The scar responsible for his change of occupation glistened against the rest of his skin, the drying water reflecting differently over the smooth, silky dead tissue. Kevin noted her staring and moved his hand, reflexive action, to cover the scar.

"I'm sorry," Lisa said again, this time more earnestly. She searched for something to say, unaware that she was already speaking, "A co-worker of mine was shot."

Kevin grinned, moving to join her on the bed, "You mean an employee of yours. You are the boss."

"Hardly," Cuddy laughed ruefully, "I could no more be his boss than he a nice guy."

"Ah." Kevin flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, "House again."

"The bane of my existence."

"So it seems. But you know what I think?" He turned to look at her directly, emphasizing importance by reaching for her hand. She moved to accept the gesture, more than willing to give him her undivided attention.

"What do you think?" Even as she spoke the words she was distracted from their meaning. Her cell phone began to ring, a tone she dedicated to one number. She looked at Kevin, hoping he hadn't figured out just who it was. He smiled warmly.

"That's work, isn't it? It might be important. Go on."

Cuddy smiled, relieved and thankful, kissed him on the cheek, and then grabbed the phone from the table near her bed side.

"I'm off today," she said gruffly, turning away from Kevin to speak privately to, as Kevin secretly knew, Gregory House. She let out a sigh in response to something he had said, "No… the answer is no… No! None of the above. When did this case come in? I haven't seen it yet. Do not cut anything out of anyone before I get there. I mean it."

She hung up abruptly, turning to find Kevin pulling on his clothes. Her heart sank, knowing full well why he was getting ready to go. She didn't stop him, simply watching him with sad, apologetic eyes.

"I think," Kevin continued, his tone unaltered from before the interruption, "you love it."

Cuddy was not oblivious to the strange way he pronounced that last word. Her phone rang.

Kevin laughed, kissed her forehead once more, and left the room. The phone continued to ring as she listened to the front door open and, after a moment of hesitation, slam closed. The cell phone quieted and for a moment Cuddy was in peace with her sad thoughts, until the clamour was taken up by home phone. She moved and grabbed the receiver of the ground line, not saying a word because she already knew who it was.

"You hung up on me," Gregory House's gruff voice said indignantly, as clear as if he were standing two feet away. There were few places in the hospital that maintained that kind of reception. She doubted he had memorized her home number, and the short time between dials led her to believe he was in a place where he could have easily looked it up. These two conditions together amounted to just one place.

"Get out of my office."

"Someone has to keep this place warm for your return."

"I'm off today."

"You led me to believe you were coming in."

"No, no, no," Cuddy said quickly, pulling a nearby drawer open and taking from it a pair of clean underwear and a bra. She wondered vaguely for a moment how he would react knowing he was speaking to her while she was naked. It made her feel uncomfortable, dirty, and she quickly pulled on the undergarments, balancing the phone with difficulty, "I told you not to do anything until I got there. I never mentioned how long that might take."

"What are you doing?" He could hear the movement of the phone.

"Fixing my bra."

"The twins get out again?"

"Use your imagination."

For a long moment the line was silent, giving Cuddy the time she needed to catch the final clasp. When her attention returned to House she was just in time to hear him groan. She rolled her eyes.

"That's enough."

"Almost," he grunted.

"Funny, Kevin made that exact same sound last night, when I-"

"Doctor Cuddy, that is hardly appropriate behavior for a woman of your position, particularly in front of a co-worker." He sounded as he ever did, sarcastic masked by faux sincerity, yet she was keenly aware that he was rattled. He went on, seemingly undaunted, "my patient needs surgery."

"Your patient is a five year old boy that swallowed some stones from the backyard. He needs observation or an endoscope. You have no grounds for a laparotomy."

"The stones are too big to pass. He'll get obstructed."

"Observe. Endoscope. This seems like a really simple case, and you're just picking a fight for the sake of it. Why?"

"Because I'm lonely and I miss you," he replied with almost practiced speed, his tone bitterly sweet. She could not imagine his face, unaware of the way his piercing blue eyes clouded. Sighing, she shivered and drew her blanket around her. The irony of sitting in bed, half naked, on the phone with a man who had just finished pretending to pleasure himself to the sound of her voice was not lost to her, particularly considering he was unaware of her state of undress.

"I know it must be hard for you, but you're going to have to stop pining for me. This unhealthy obsession you have for me is beginning to effect your judgment at work. Which was pretty bad to begin with – what are you doing?"

His phone clicked and became thick with interference. There was rustling and a drowning hum that Cuddy could not recognize.

"You kicked me out of your office."

"And you listened?"

"I thought it might make you more inclined to agree with me."

"Don't hold your breath."

House sighed into the phone, and Lisa sighed with him. They were quiet for a moment, then House spoke with a strange fire to his voice.

"Well, if you're not going to play nice than I don't really want to talk to you at all. You're a terrible boss, Cuddy. Never let me have any fun, just because you don't like me."

And then he hung up.

For a moment Cuddy couldn't quite figure out what had just happened. She knew he was playing with her, trying to get a rise out of her, and by all accounts he had exceeded. It was one thing to imply insults through sarcasm, yet quite another to spit them out in plain language. She slammed the receiver down and then went to find her cell phone, lost in the sheets where she had all but discarded it. Flipping it open, she hit the first number on speed dial and, her face burning with anger, waited for him to pick up.

In the middle of her wrathful redial her doorbell went. With exaggerated exasperation for her own release, Cuddy let out an irritated grumble. She searched for her bathrobe, but the closest thing she found was Kevin's long black trench coat. He must have forgotten it in his hurry to leave. Or maybe, Cuddy hoped silently, he had left it for her as an excuse for him to return. Phone balanced awkwardly between her shoulder and ear, ringing without purpose, she wrapped the large coat around her nearly bare frame, hurrying to the door with a slight smile on her face as his scent met each intake of breath. She opened the door and peered outside, half hidden behind the wooden shield.

In her ear the click of the phone drew her attention for a moment, her priorities on the call rather than on whoever was at the door. If it was Kevin, as she had imagined, he probably wasn't too happy with this choice.

"Stop calling me, Cuddy, I can't forget about you if you don't leave me," House's voice rang clearly in her head, and for a moment she was surprised. She looked in shock to find him standing on her doorstep, grinning at her broadly, his phone to his ear as he leaned casually on his cane. She took her phone from her shoulder, clapping it shut as she stared at him, dumbstruck. He tilted his head at her in surprise, taking in the way she kept herself hidden, the way she adjusted herself so that he could just see her head and the hands that gripped the door like it was the only thing keeping her feet on the ground.

"Are you naked?" He asked, moving to get a better view, quickly adding, "can I come in?"

She bristled, opened her mouth to say something, found no words, and finally gave up, stepping back to let him come inside. He limped in with an eager pride to his belabored step, watching her keenly as she shut the door behind him.