Author's Note: So, this little puppy has been cooking for quite a long time. And I have finally decided to open it to the internet world. So, basically I want to say that this fic takes place from Cuddy's perspective in present time and then moves into the past. It'll be in that same format for each chapter. And that's about it. Enjoy!
Cuddy was always certain she could keep her calm around him. She wouldn't yell. Perhaps she would raise her voice from time to time. A shout, not a yell, might sometimes pass those lips. But often, she kept her calm because if she caved and gave him what he wanted, she would never hear the end of it.
It wasn't even the fact of being right or wrong. It was just a way of working with him. Of course, whenever she was right, she would gloat just a little too much. But, he always made sure she knew when he was right, which seemed to happen a lot, so she figured her gloating was justified.
He used to be different. In a slight way, a better way. She knew what Stacy said. She had talked to Stacy about House. And she also had interaction with him when he had the infarction after she had not seen him in so very many years. Of course, she hadn't known him all that well in college. At least, that's what she claimed.
He was a legend and she was merely fresh meat. But, she had drive and ambition, and happened to be there when he wasn't who he presently was now. There was something about him back then. He could still manage to piss anyone off, but he was lighter. Better.
The med student lounge. It wasn't actually entitled this, but everyone, including the professors, referred to it as such. She was there too late on a Tuesday night. Well, by that time it was Wednesday morning.
He was there too. With some friends, but they weren't studying like she was attempting to. They were joking, whispering, and she assumed making comments about her. She wasn't particularly vain, but there was too much snickering going on for them to be talking about football.
The hour was drawing later. She needed to study, she needed to ace this test. If she ever wanted to go far in her career, she had to kiss ass and ace the first exam. She was quite aware of the games she needed to play to win during her first year here. She had to push her career. She had to already be professional.
And she watched them leave, the group of them. Each one glancing at her as they left. But, he lingered. She focused even more on her textbook. They were alone and she didn't know him. She was partially paranoid of what was to come, wondering what his buddies had dared him to do.
He walked over to the couch she was seated on and plopped himself in the armchair next to it. He sighed loudly when she refused to look at him. Taking in a breath, she raised her eyes to meet his.
"I don't need a babysitter," she spoke harshly on purpose.
"Do I look like a babysitter?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
She sighed and closed the textbook in her lap. Her eyes narrowed at him. "All right. Come on. Let's get it over with. What are you suppose to do?"
His arms were stretched casually over the back of the armchair. He looked to the ceiling, thinking it over, a smirk spread across his face. He finally brought his eyes back down as she still glared at him.
"I'm keeping you company," he answered smoothly. "It's almost three. You shouldn't be alone in here. There's a lot of creeps on campus."
"I know." Cuddy raised her eyebrows just as smoothly. "I'm sitting with one."
He immediately put a hand over his heart as if pained, but his voice came through with heavy sarcasm. "Ouch, that hurt."
She folded her arms across her chest. She knew now who this was. She had been previously warned. "Gregory House, I presume?"
"Presume away." He fluttered a hand in her direction.
For some reason a smile was creeping onto her face. She quickly jammed annoyance at it. "What do you want, Mr. House?"
"Dr. House to you, sweetheart," he spoke in his best Bogart impression and pretended to flick a cigar.
Cuddy wasn't particularly pleased, but his Humphrey Bogart impression was pretty damn good. For some reason that caused her to smile, but only a bit. She didn't want him to think that she was actually enjoying his company, which she wasn't, for the record.
She could have asked some question to keep him there and show him that she was engaged. She could have asked if he liked Bogart, or film noir, or movies in general. But, Cuddy chose not to. Why would she want to talk to Gregory House, who couldn't seem to keep his hands out of places they didn't belong and his mind on facts and rules?
"I'm trying to study." Cuddy opened her book once again and scanned her eyes across the words, pretending to read them while she tuned her senses to recognize what he was doing.
He stood from the chair. "My mistake and apologies."
Pleased that he was leaving, she darted her eyes to him just in time to see him flop down on the couch, throwing the upper half of his body across her lap. A corner of the book was digging into her side and she tried to jump up, but he made sure the majority of his weight was on her.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked him, not quite sure this was happening. "Get off me!"
"I don't like to be ignored," he stated this quite simply as if it was the most innocent thing in the world.
"Well, I'm not ignoring you now, so get off!" She pushed at him, trying to roll him from her lap, but it seemed fruitless. She stopped and prepared herself before shoving into him hard and knocking him to the floor.
Quickly standing, Cuddy grab her book and purse, and headed for the door, making sure she stepped around his figure on the floor. As she exited the room, she knew he was scrambling to his feet. She was certain he was not following her as she slipped out into the dark night and headed for her dorm.
As she headed down the pathway to her dorm building, she cried out at seeing a dark shadow emerge from some bushes. Her heart was still rapidly pounding in her chest when she realized it was Gregory House.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she punched him in the arm before she could stop herself.
"Ow!" He exclaimed and put a hand up to his now tender arm. He lifted his hand connected to the tender arm and showed off a set of dangling keys. "You dropped these."
Cuddy swiped them quickly, furiously. "You stole my keys."
She began to walk to her dorm, but he was right alongside of her, not letting up.
"No, I returned your keys," he told her, emphasizing his words.
Eyeing him suspiciously, Cuddy picked up her pace. "How did you get out here so fast, creep?"
"I know the ins and outs of all the buildings, bitch," he retorted.
She couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. Yes, she had heard the stories about how Gregory House stole cadavers and hid them in the inner workings of the buildings after he was done with them. She had heard of his stunts to prove everyone and everything wrong by using nearly illegal experiments. And she had certainly heard of the time he almost killed a guy because of some mix up about lab work, though many agreed that he did it on purpose to prove a point. However, she was pretty sure these tales were somewhat fabricated. At least, she hoped so.
"Could you kindly leave me alone?" She wouldn't look at him and hoped he would simply vanish just as he had appeared.
"You want to walk around campus at night by yourself?" He hid his worry for this interesting female by hyping his words with a bit of sarcasm. "So, you want to get raped."
She shook her head. "I didn't ask for this."
"No woman ever does," he replied.
That got her stop. She stared at him, eyebrows drawn together. He stopped as well and held his eyes on her.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" she asked him, incredulous. "Do you find pleasure in harassing others? Do you feel satisfied as you drive people away from you? I heard about you, Doctor House. I know of the stunts you pull and the people you piss off. I don't want any association with you. None. At all. Ever."
She waited for response. He held back the smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth. He weighted his words and his lips parted.
"I'm going to make you love me."
With an angry and infuriated cry, Cuddy harshly stomped a foot into the ground. She couldn't stand to be around this man anymore. She turned from him and stormed off, swearing to avoid him at all costs. He watched her go and let his smile form, knowing it wouldn't be the last time he would interact with her.