Temporary insanity?

House stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy pink towel, feeling extremely self conscious. But why did Cuddy have to lend him the most emasculating garments she owned? Probably just to embarrass him after all he had done to her. And it was only Sunday, which meant they still had to spend at least two more days together. And he will have to re-meet with Jack Cuddy. Oh, lovely prospect.

If after being stuck with her for two days he had confessed he liked her, he'd end up having her babies if he didn't leave at one. He couldn't believe he had actually admitted it- he was mortified. How was he supposed to act around her now? Of course, he could still carry on with his sarcasm and witty retorts, but deep down, she'd know the reason for it. And that was even worse.

Well, he could always blackmail her with the whole kiss-thing. They had kissed on a mutual agreement, which meant that a-she also liked him, which was entirely possible, almost certain, since she still hadn't fired him and her niece had said so, or b- she felt terribly sorry for him and wanted to give him a happy memory for him to treasure. Since he wasn't suffering from a life-threatening illness, the second one was less than probable. So, Cuddy liked him.

He had always suspected it. Why else would a person stand his uncanny behaviour? He had told himself several times that she did it out of guilt- for his leg and all- but that was clearly not the only reason for it. They had also shared a pseudo-relationship when they were young…

Cuddy had left Jack's clothes carefully place on her bed. Since the children had taken over the guest room, he had been forced to use that purple bathroom of hers, with all her mysterious soaps, creams and shampoos.

He got dressed quite quickly. For some reason, being naked in Cuddy's room made him extremely uncomfortable. Jack's clothes suited him just fine, and he was glad he could finally wash his own clothes. He had never sweated so much in his entire life.

He grabbed his cane and, barefoot, (he couldn't find his sneakers anywhere) he exited the room and made his way towards the guest room, the sound of children's laughter reaching his ears. He hoped Cuddy wasn't there; he wasn't ready for a conversation. He knocked on the door twice.

'Come in!' He heard Matthew's voice.

He entered the room as swiftly as he could, closing the door behind him with a loud thud.

'Oh, it's doctor House,' Matthew was jumping up and down in the bed excitedly, and so was Emma.

'Hello, doctor House,' Emma greeted him in between leaps 'What are you doing here?'

'I came to check on you, parasites,' he replied, his lips curving involuntary into a smirk. Oh God… did he actually like those two crazy kiddies? Did he enjoy their company? This wasn't happening.

'What are you smiling about?' Matthew asked him when he paused for a moment to catch his breathe.

'I'm not smiling, kid,' he quickly denied it.

The boy chuckled. 'Yes, you are.'

'I'm not, I'm smirking' he protested.

'Yeah, right,' Emma added, ceasing her jumping as well.

'You two are really insufferable, did you know that?' House pointed at them with his cane.

'People say we're adorable,' Matthew raised an eyebrow, confused, and Emma laughed out loud.

This time, House let out and small chuckle of awe.

'So, you're fine and in one piece. I better leave now,' he turned around but was forced to stop when two little hands grabbed him by the arm. One belonged to Emma, the other one to Matthew.

'Doctor House,' Matthew said gravely 'Please be nice to Aunt Lisa.'

This took him by surprise- - when did six year olds did that? Those kids were officially screwed. But at the same time, he didn't want to let them down. They were fun, easy going, Emma was smart and clever… he didn't plan on treating Cuddy badly, but the little kid's plea confirmed he was going to make a colossal effort and try out what people commonly acknowledged as niceness.

He wasn't going to succeed, but he'd do his best for the rest of the day.

He rolled his eyes. 'OK, leeches. Now let me go.'

Cuddy was in the kitchen, getting dinner ready. The room smelled of roasted meat-for the kids and he suspected, for him- and she was dressing a greens salad, her back to him. He watched her quietly, so quietly that at first, she didn't notice his entrance, but when she turned around in order to set out the table, she almost collided with him. Luckily, not even one plate fell to the floor.

'Damn it, House,' she breathed unevenly.

'Sorry. Thought you'd notice I was here…'

'Well, I don't have eyes in the back of my head, so the next time please let me know,' she retorted, following her path towards the kitchen table.

House decided to make an effort. 'Ok, sorry,' he said in a whiny voice.

'What? Are you apologising to me? I must be hallucinating,' she laughed at him.

'Ha, ha very funny,' he sat on the closest chair. 'Why do people find it so hard to believe I can actually be nice?'

'Maybe because you can't?' She teased him 'Unless you want to win a bet with Wilson.'

They were silent for a while, while Cuddy looked for napkins and glasses. Suddenly, the tension in the air had increased. They were clearly not talking about what they had in mind… their previous conversation and the goddamn kiss.

He broke the silence.

'Cuddy?' He asked, and she turned around to face him 'What now?' He repeated his former question.

'I was about to ask you the same thing,' she sighed.

'So, you don't know either. Brilliant,' he smirked, and stood up.

She brought her hand to her forehead. 'It's complicated.'

'Yep. Very,' he agreed, closing the gap between them.

'I… I… didn't expect this to happen,' Cuddy mumbled. Now that the playful bickering had ended, they faced the seriousness of the situation. House was House, after all, with all the trouble that 'being House' implied. Bitterness, pain, suffering, getting used to his sometimes hurtful remarks, the enormous amount of Vicodin he took every day…

Her feelings had always been there. She didn't like him, she loved him. But having confessed, partly, to them gave them a whole new dimension they now had to enter. There was no way back.

'Neither did I,' his voice came out surprisingly soft, even soothing. It was true. He had practically been forced to come clean about his feelings. He could have lived a happy existence without Cuddy knowing he liked her… or so he thought.

Cuddy stared at him for a moment. He was narrowing his eyes, a clear indication that he was doing some thinking. Why on Earth did she love him? She could have loved so many successful, reasonable, mildly happy doctors, lawyers and businessmen. To hell with her doubts.

'I guess we can wait and see if it works out. This might go somewhere. After all, we've been dancing around each other for twenty years…' She said, more to herself than to him.

'Cuddy, you are talking about me. Hello! Biggest bastard on the face of earth. Nothing, except for diagnosis, works out if I'm involved,' he added, jokingly. But she sensed the bitterness in his voice.

'Don't say that,' Cuddy replied, placing her hand on his shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.

'Fine, but I'll still believe it,' he defied her. 'And I think dinner is ready… or burned.'

A/N: I'm really really sorry, I haven't updated in weeks! It's just… I didn't know how to write House and Cuddy convincingly. I tried a couple of times and didn't quite make it, so I remained frustrated and angry at myself XD I didn't edit at all, so I apologise if there were too many mistakes. Again: can anyone explain to me how the beta thing works? I don't get it

I hope you liked the chapter, and again, I'm sorry for the delay!

Reviews are loveeeeeeeed : )