Hey guys!

Thanks soooo, sooooo, soooooo much for all your great Feedback. I really appreciate it :D

I'm still kinda stuck with this story, my muse gives me all kind of ideas for one shots and for my other more chapter fic but not for this one. But with the help of my fave Frenchie I managed to write this chapter :D

Thanks a lot also to LEfan77 for beta reading :D

Chapter 24

Cuddy and Rachel spent the following night in their hotel room. Alone.

House got called into the hospital because of a case and it looked as if he would have to stay in all night.

They didn't meet again until the next day for lunch.

House was unusually silent and seemed to be pondering something.

Cuddy wanted to ask him what was going on but this probably wasn't the best idea when Rachel was around.

"Rach?" House suddenly said after he had been quiet for quite a long time.

"Yeah?" The little one looked up at him with a smile on her face.

"Are you up for a little deal?"

"What deal?"

"We go to the biggest candy store you have ever seen in your entire life and in return you lend me your Mom this evening while you stay with the baby sitter?"

"The biggest candy store ever?!" Rachel's eyes grew big.

"Yes… its huge."

"And do they have cotton candy too?"

"It is the paradise of cotton candy… So… Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah!" Rachel shouted gleefully.

"Great." He said and looked at Cuddy. She was smiling at him. He was surprised. He had thought she would want to slap him for suggesting taking Rachel to a candy store but she seemed to be ok with it.

Cuddy took a sip of her water. She was glad House wanted to have some alone time with her. This was exactly what she wanted as well. That was what they needed.

She loved it when Rachel was around them. She loved spending time with them both – with House and Rachel. It felt as if they were a family.

But around Rachel they just couldn't talk… Not about the really important things.

House's deal came in really handy.

The babysitter from two nights ago was available again this evening. So there was no need to meet her again beforehand. She was responsible and Rachel liked her and that was the most important thing.

When the sitter arrived Cuddy kissed Rachel goodbye and went down to the reception desk where House was already waiting for her.

He took her to a fancy restaurant. This time he called them twice in order to make sure they wrote down the reservations. He didn't want another incident.

They had a great time during dinner. They talked, laughed, bantered and flirted. It almost felt like it did back before it all went down the drain.

After dessert they went back to House's apartment.

He opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass for Cuddy while he himself settled for scotch.

He put down the drinks on the living room table and dropped down next to Cuddy on the couch.

"I had a great time tonight. Thank you." She said.

"I thought you'd be pissed because of the candy store deal."

"I want Rach to have a great time… she grows up so fast. I want her to have a childhood filled with fun, adventure and love… and going to the biggest candy store is just a part of that."

"You changed." He said.

"So did you."

He looked at her and nodded. She smiled, pressed a kiss to his cheek and put her head on his shoulder.

"How are we gonna move on from here?" He said after a short moment of silence. "You are gonna go back to the states at the end of next week. What then?"

"I had pushed those thoughts aside until now. I kinda hoped it would all fall into place." She admitted.

"I thought… that maybe…" He stopped. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to say what he was about to say.

"You thought?"

"Maybe we should start over… here in Europe."

Cuddy sat up and looked at him surprised. "In Germany?"

"Wherever you want."

"Are younbeing serious?"

He took her hand. "You said we need to leave the past behind us. Starting fresh somewhere far away from all the ghosts that are haunting us is the best way to do that."

She could see in his eyes how terrified he was. Terrified of her reaction, of her answer. Terrified of losing her again.

"And Rachel? Her school? And my job? My mom would kill me if I told her I was gonna leave the country."

"You know they do have schools as well as hospitals here in Europe. And they also let old people immigrate if dragon mom wants to come along."

Cuddy laughed, then her facial expression turned to a more serious one. "You really want this? The real deal… Me AND Rachel?"

"More than anything else."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. A tear was threatening to escape her eye and she wiped it away before it could roll down her cheek. She looked down at their hands that still were joined. His thumb was drawing soft circles on her skin. "Then yes… Let's start over."

"Seriously?" Though he had hoped she'd agree, he had never expected her answer to be yes.

"Yes. I want to be with you… and I want this to work, I need this to work. Getting away from the States to start over seems to be the only thing that might work… and I'm ready to do that. For us."

House had never been more relieved. Her little speech lifted a huge load off his heart. He had been so scared that his proposition would chase her away and that he would be left in a dark hole again with a big chunk of his heart missing.

But this didn't happen… and he couldn't be happier about it.

He cupped her cheek with his hand and gave her such a soft and tender kiss that she almost melted away.

House didn't want her to feel blindsided so he ended the kiss sooner than she would have liked.

They looked at each other. Their stare was so intense that it seemed as if the other one was looking directly into their soul.

Cuddy's hand went to his chest, she could feel his heart beat. It was strong and it still had the ability to calm her down. "I missed falling asleep on your chest." Her voice was a whisper.

Her hand kept wandering over his shoulder to his neck. "I missed burying my face in your neck."

Her hand came to a stop on his lips. She softly caressed them with her fingers.

"I missed kissing those lips… more than I thought I could ever miss anything."

He was unable to talk… He was overwhelmed. Days ago he never thought Cuddy would ever talk to him again, he never thought she'd touch him again… and now here she was telling him how much she had missed him… This was almost too much to handle.

Cuddy's fingers were still on his lips. Her touch made his lips tingle.

"You know what I missed as well?" She aspirated.

"What?" His voice was shaky.

She scooted closer and brought her mouth to his ear. "Making love to you."

And he almost died.

Did she just really say that? Did she?! Or was he just hallucinating?

No… he can't be hallucinating… he was off the vicodin… he was fine… this was real. She was real… and her words were real.

She moved away from his ear so she could see his face again. In his eyes it was clearly visible how overwhelmed he was.

Her hand went again to his and took hold of it. Her eyes were focused on his and before they both knew what was happening she said what she had wanted to say for years and what he had longed to hear for an equally long time.

She whispered: "Make love to me, House."

TBC

I know, its not my best work... but thats all I can come up with at the moment.

Enjoy life :D