Final Chapter. Enjoy.

'How do I get myself into these things?' Wilson wondered as he walked down the hall toward the nurse's station. He looked around for anything that might be useful. He couldn't call a code; it had to be something safe. Wilson scoped the room until his eyes fell upon a food cart parked outside of a patient's room. 'Perfect.'

A nurse exited the room and began pushing the cart in Wilson's direction. It was now or never.

'Here it goes.'

Wilson walked toward the cart and suddenly tripped going head first into the cart, and taking everything on it to the floor with him. Eggs flew through the air, bagels rolled down the hall, and the orange juice formed a puddle that was getting bigger by the second. Wilson was surrounded by the mess, his hair full of jello, and his coat no longer white.

"Oh my goodness." said the frightened orderly pushing the cart.

"I'm so sorry, I tripped. It was an accident." Wilson said nervously, knowing everyone was looking at him. Most were trying to hold in their laughter.

"Are you alright Doctor Wilson?" She asked him worriedly.

"Yes, thank you. I'm fine." Said Wilson, his face beat red.

Wilson got to his feet, brushing some scrambled egg off of his coat, he looked up just in time to see the elevator doors close on House's smiling face.

*

House rolled his way to Cuddy's office, resisting the urge to turn around and go back to his room. He couldn't turn back now. There were too many things that needed to be said.

Her blinds were closed so he couldn't see inside. Opening the door, he spotted her behind her desk with her head in her hands.

"Sleeping on the job? That's not like you." House said, startling Cuddy out of her thoughts. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"House, what are you doing here? Where is your IV?" Cuddy said quickly wiping her eyes.

"We need to talk."

"Yes we do, but now is not the time." She stood up, her emotions in check. "We need to get you back to your room."

"Not yet." House said, but Cuddy continued.

"If you want to talk about what I said, I'm sorry. It was completely inappropriate, and if you don't—"

"I was hallucinating about my father." House interrupted. Cuddy stopped her ranting, not understanding.

"What?"

"The hallucination I had…it was about my father when I was a kid." Cuddy took a moment, trying to determine where this was going.

"House, I don't—"

He continued, not meeting her eyes. "He used to fill the tub with ice…If he thought I had to be taught a lesson, I took bath in it." Cuddy gave a small gasp at his confession. House gave an involuntary shudder. "If I was lucky he'd make me sleep in the yard instead."

"My God, I never thought…I never suspected…" Cuddy's eyes widened in horror. "The funeral. Wilson and I were completely out of line, we should never have forced you to do anything. It was none of our business." Cuddy said angry at herself for all the assumptions she had made about House and his father. Believing it was House who tortured his father when he was young, and not the other way around.

"I'm glad I went. Helped me win back Wilson, if nothing else." House said, and Cuddy knew that was his way of telling her he wasn't angry with her.

"Have you ever told anyone about this? Cuddy asked gently.

House shook his head. "Just you."

"But your mother…"

"She knew what was going on but she never stopped him…she couldn't…" House broke off, he could feel his throat constricting at the thought of his mom. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "It didn't happen that often anyway, he wasn't home most of the time." House shrugged it off.

Cuddy's eyes filled with tears as she tried to think of anything but a little House crying for his mother like he had the other night.

"He didn't think anything of it." House continued, his gaze fixed as if he were recalling a memory. "He was right and everyone else was wrong. If you disagreed then you deserved to be punished."

Unable to contain it any longer, the tears overflowed, and she cried for the broken man in front of her. For the pain he had suffered and is still suffering.

"Thank you for your trust." Cuddy said when he had finished, tears making their way down her cheek. "I know that wasn't easy for you."

"Trust was never an easy thing for me to give." House laughed bitterly. "I guess more of him rubbed off on me then I would have liked."

"Don't say that." Cuddy told him sternly, "You are nothing like your father."

"We seem to share a similar reputation." House said with disgust.

"House, I don't believe for a second that you are capable of that kind of cruelty. You have a good heart. Sometimes you make it difficult to see it, but I know it's there. I always have." She smiled a watery smile at him.

House closed his eyes, touched by her words.

"It is…and I'm tired of proving otherwise." House got out of the wheelchair and tried to make his way over to Cuddy. He took two unsteady steps before Cuddy met him and embraced him.

They slid to the floor until they were both on their knees, holding each other close. The same position they were in after House knocked out the psych patient just days before.

House's breathing was labored, he was clearly in pain.

"House, you have to get back upstairs." Cuddy urged.

House shook his head and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm done being afraid. I don't want to be miserable anymore and I don't want to be alone. I need you." House smiled, his eyes still piercing hers. "Lisa…..I love you."

Cuddy was completely shocked. She had often wondered if House would ever return her feelings, and to hear him say those words rendered her speechless. She reacted entirely on impulse.

In one swift movement; Cuddy captured his lips with hers in a sweet kiss. It didn't have the urgency of their previous one in Cuddy's House, or the sloppiness of their first one in Med School; it was perfect. It could have gone on forever but, unfortunately they eventually had to break for oxygen.

"I love you too, House. I have for as long as I can remember." Cuddy muttered breathlessly.

House's lips met hers again in another passionate kiss. He couldn't have dreamed of everything going this perfect. The only downside was what the reaction outside of this room would be, but he's never been one to care about what other people think. Cuddy had the same nagging thoughts.

"Do you think we stand a chance?" Cuddy asked after they parted.

"I was hoping we'd find that out together." House rested his forehead on hers, enjoying the warmth radiating from her.

"The board is going to tell me to fire you." She warned.

"They'd tell you to fire me anyway."

She laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"We'll have to think of something." Cuddy said, not overly concerned about what the others might think at the moment.

"Wilson kind of knows already, so we won't have to lie to him." House said with a smile.

"What? How?"

"He's been my personal cheerleader for months now. How do you think I got here? Which reminds me, I'm going to have to buy him a nice steak dinner when I get out of here."

"I assume he was your decoy?" Cuddy's smile turned to a frown. "I hope he didn't do anything too destructive…or painful."

"Don't worry; he just took a little tumble." House said in a teasing tone.

"A little tumble down a flight of stairs? Through a glass wall? What kind of tumble was it?" Cuddy asked curiously.

"Let's just say there were pancakes involved."

Cuddy shook her head. "Must have been quite a mess."

"Lou's probably still mopping up the orange juice as we speak." House grinned at the memory of Wilson sitting in the middle of the hall, surrounded by the breakfast menu. "I could go for some breakfast right about now." House commented patting his stomach.

Cuddy's eyes narrowed suddenly as she looked at him.

"Which reminds me; our recent revelations do not make me any less your doctor." Cuddy reprimanded, straightening up. "I'm taking you back up to your room, and you're getting a new IV."

"I see how it is; you're trying to get me into bed already." House winked up at her.

"I'm serious House; you're going to get worse if you don't start taking proper care of yourself."

"You don't think I'm serious?"

Cuddy sighed, helping him into the wheelchair. He could barely stand up, but he had no problem flirting with her.

"We can discuss us later. Right now you have to get upstairs. You can't keep disregarding your health like this." She pushed him out of her office, and towards the elevators.

House smiled over his shoulder, "But I have you to take care of me."

Cuddy felt her frustration dissipate as she looked down at the cause of both her stress, and her happiness. A small smile formed on her lips.

"Always."

*

THE END

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