A/N: Sorry for the delay! (Bad BugBite!)

65 reviews?! SERIOUSLY?! Thank you so much! I can't believe people actually like this.

Anyway, I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going with this, but any suggestions (for this or otherwise) are always welcome! Yay, suggestions!

Ahem.

Please read and review, thanks!

On Monday morning, Cuddy discovered, to her dismay, that Beth was still very sick. When she called her to see how she was doing, Beth's sister had told her that Beth had been admitted to the hospital during the night. Cuddy made a mental note to send flowers to Beth's hospital room, and was then left with her next problem: what to do with Rachel.

Lucas was already gone when she woke up (which she was grateful for; she still felt ashamed for last night) and wasn't answering his cell, so she couldn't ask him to watch Rachel. And House had to work today.

So she decided that she would just have to take Rachel to work with her.

Cuddy packed Rachel's diaper bag and dressed her daughter in one of the cute little outfits that were a gift from Nurse Brenda. She and Rachel drove to the hospital, and arrived only ten minutes later than usual. She smiled and said hello to Nurse Brenda and her assistant, and settled Rachel on the floor of her office with some toys.

Everything was going fine for quite a while. Sure, Cuddy wasn't getting as much work done as usual, what with checking on Rachel every few minutes, but she didn't have any meetings scheduled for the day, so she had a little more time to finish her paperwork. But about an hour later, she was paged by Dr Stanton, who was having a problem with his patient's family members.

There were no nurses around to watch Rachel, so Cuddy took Rachel up to the fourth floor with her. As she approached Dr Stanton and saw just how upset the patient's family was, she flagged down a nurse and left Rachel with her.

The young nurse, Irene, was new to the hospital. She didn't know that Rachel was Cuddy's daughter. And she had been in a hurry to bring a cup of coffee to a doctor just down the hall.

"Um…stay right here, ok, hon? I'll be back in just a minute."

She put Rachel down near a nurse's station and hurried to bring the coffee to the doctor.

Rachel, now alone, surveyed her new surroundings, and began to wander down the hall. She stopped when she heard a familiar voice saying something about "loopis." Rachel's brow crinkled at such a strange word, but she knew the voice: it was House's.

She followed the voice into a big glass room, and was quite happy when she found House talking animatedly to other big people who she'd never seen before.

Well, you can imagine House's surprise when the Dean of Medicine's daughter toddled right up to him, her arms raised to be picked up.

"Rachel?" House exclaimed, scooping the little girl up, "What are you doing here? Where's your mother?"

Rachel just smiled at him and said, "House!"

House fought off a small smile, while the team looked confused (although they look like that a lot).

"She seems to know you well. Did you finally scare Lucas away from Cuddy and guilt her into going on a date with you?" Taub offered sarcastically.

House turned and looked at Rachel so that the team wouldn't see the hurt in his eyes. He tried to focus on the little girl who was happy to see him, not the pangs in his chest.

"I looked after her the other day," House said, not turning away from Rachel, "That's how she knows me."

Taub scoffed.

"Seriously? YOU watched Rachel?" Chase asked.

"Yes. I did. Why? Do you think I couldn't?"

"No! I just thought that you wouldn't want to," Chase explained. He really did like House, and didn't want it to seem like he underestimated him.

House shrugged. "Rachel's not so bad. She doesn't talk much. And she's not annoying like other kids."

House shifted Rachel in his arms, smiling at her. "You sure you don't know where your mother is? I seriously doubt she'd leave you all alone…"

"Mama?"

"Yeah, where is she?"

Rachel didn't answer, but leaned her head on House's shoulder, cooing his name.

After solving Dr Stanton's problem, Cuddy went to find Irene and Rachel. But she couldn't find them anywhere. She began to panic, hurrying up and down the halls.

She finally found Irene, flirting with a doctor over his desk.

"Where is my daughter?" she demanded.

"Who?" Irene straightened up, looking confused.

"My daughter! Rachel! I left her with you!"

"Oh…um," Irene stammered. "I-I didn't know that she was YOUR daughter, Dr Cuddy! I-I left her over by that nurse's station! I told her to stay there and that I'd be right back, I-!"

"She's FIFTEEN MONTHS OLD! She didn't understand you! My BABY is LOST! I have half a mind to fire you right now!"

Cuddy stormed away, frantically searching for her daughter. She ran past House's office so fast that she nearly didn't see House holding her little girl.

"House!" she cried, dashing into his office.

"Hey, Cuddy. What's the rush?" he answered, passing Rachel into her arms.

Cuddy hugged Rachel tightly. "Where were you, sweetie? I thought I'd lost you! Were you here with House the whole time?"

"Mama!" Rachel cried happily. She pointed to the man next to her and declared, "House."

Cuddy smiled and stroked Rachel's hair.

"Yes, that's House." She turned to said diagnostician. "Where did you find her?"

"I didn't. She just walked here. Why'd you leave her to wander around? I mean, that wasn't really the most responsible thing to do, Cuddles…"

"Responsible," Taub scoffed. "Look who's talking."

Cuddy frowned at Taub, and rolled her eyes at House.

"I did NOT leave her 'wandering around.' I left her with a nurse, who left my fifteen month old alone by a nurse's station to go flirt with some doctor!"

"Are you gonna fire her?"

"Probably."

House nodded. He was silent for a moment, then said,

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

He gave her a light push towards his office.

"Uh, yeah. Sure," Cuddy was a little confused. Usually it was SHE who was pushing House into an office.

House shut the door to the conference room and pulled Cuddy to the far side of his office so that the Ducklings couldn't hear.

"I was wondering…" he started, not looking at her.

Oh no, Cuddy thought. Was he asking her on a date? She couldn't say yes, she was with Lucas. But if he did ask, she knew that she wouldn't say no.

Get a hold of yourself, Lisa! Cuddy chided herself. House wouldn't ask her on a date while she was with someone! He wasn't into unfaithfulness. He would lie and do whatever it took to get what he wanted, UNLESS it had something to do with people he cared about. He was ALWAYS faithful, and his loyalty to his friends would always override his own desires. Why else would he back off when he wanted Cuddy so badly?

"Well, Wilson has a date tonight, so I have the loft all to myself. But it's pretty big and empty, so, if you want, you and Rachel could come over for dinner…" he seemed a little nervous. In truth he was worried that she would take it the wrong way (though he wished that it could be a real date, not just dinner between friends).

Cuddy smiled. "Sure, House. We'd love to. What time should we come over?"

"Um, how about 7?"

Cuddy nodded. "Sure, we'll see you then. Rachel, say good bye to House."

She held Rachel up so she could kiss House on the cheek, causing House to make a face and pretend that he didn't like it.

"Bye, Rach," House said, ruffling her hair. "See you later. Oh, you too, Cuddy," he added, like an afterthought.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "I knew you were just using me to get close to Rachel."

"What can I say? The girl is irresistible."

"Good bye, House."

"Good bye, Cuddy."

Cuddy and Rachel returned home from House's loft at around 9:30 p.m.

She went into her dark house and flipped the light switch in the living room. She set Rachel down on the floor with her toys before going into the kitchen to turn the light on.

"Lisa."

Cuddy jumped, badly startled, and spun around quickly. "Lucas!"

"Where were you and Rachel?" Lucas asked, calmly sitting at the table. Startling Cuddy seemed to have no effect on him.

Cuddy frowned. "Rachel and I were out having dinner."

"Who with?"

Cuddy bit her lip. She had no idea why she felt embarrassed to admit, "House."

THAT affected Lucas. "WHAT?!"

"House. Rachel and I had dinner with House."

"You let Rachel near that PSYCHO? Lisa, how COULD you? What if he hurt her? What if he-"

"House is NOT a PSYCHO! And he would NEVER hurt Rachel! How DARE you insult him like that?!"

"He sure SEEMS like a psycho. At least, that's the way YOU made it sound when you told me about his 'mental breakdown.' Face it, Lisa, he was just a crazy drug addict. I wouldn't be surprised if he was back on the Vicodin RIGHT NOW."

Lucas was probably going to continue, but he was cut off by a swift slap on the face. Cuddy felt terribly guilty for telling Lucas about House's mental break. She had just wanted to TALK about it, especially with someone who knew House, but Wilson had been a wreck and she didn't want to push him. None of her family members would have understood. And no one else REALLY knew what was going on. But obviously, Lucas had been the WORST person to talk to, and now she was paying for her bad decision in the form of a fight with Mr. Stable-Dependable-Reliable.

"You have NO RIGHT to talk about House that way. What I told you was CONFIDENTIAL. I thought that you would understand, seeing as the two of you were friends once. OBVIOUSLY, I was wrong. House is NOT back on the Vicodin, and he WON'T be, not ever again. And he's NEVER been 'crazy'- he's brilliant and creative- NOT 'CRAZY'!"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Can't you see, Lisa? It's all just an act. He's not going to stay clean, even if he is now. He just wants to win you over- he wants what we have: a REAL relationship. He'll steal you away from me, play with you for a while, then get bored and move on to the next bimbo he sees!"

Cuddy's jaw dropped. If she were the violent type, she'd probably grab a kitchen knife and jump him, but instead, she punched him in the nose, and then calmly pointed to the front door.

"Do not EVER come near me or my daughter again. If you so much as put one of your dirty feet on my doorstep, you will regret ever being born."

Lucas wiped the blood off his nose and opened his mouth to protest, but Cuddy's angry shout of "GO!" sent him on his way. But as he turned to close the door, he stopped.

"You will regret this, Lisa Cuddy."

With that, he slammed the door behind him and sped off down the street.

Cuddy stared at the door in disbelief. He was threatening her? What kind of low-life jerk had she been dating?

Rachel came into the kitchen, one hand rubbing her eye sleepily, the other dragging Don Giraffe behind her.

"Mama? No?"

Cuddy sighed and picked her daughter up.

"Lucas isn't coming back, sweetie."

Rachel did not seem too torn up about that, and asked, "House?"

"Maybe we'll see House tomorrow, sweetie. Right now, it's time for bed."

Rachel lay her head on her mother's shoulder, not about to protest.

Cuddy got her daughter ready for bed. Rachel was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Cuddy watched her silently for a while. She then went to her own room to get ready for bed, too.

Cuddy lay awake in her bed, feeling lonelier than ever. She wasn't…sad, per se, that she had just broken up with Lucas, but she WAS sad that she had ruined another relationship. A relationship that was no good for her or Rachel, she reminded herself, but it was still ruined. She felt a few tears slip down her face.

Cuddy turned over to allow the tears to fall onto her pillow. The telephone on her nightstand caught her eye. House would surely still be awake; he'd been an insomniac for as long as she'd known him, and it was barely ten o'clock. She grabbed the phone and dialed his number, trying to think of a good excuse for calling so late.

"House."

"Hey, it's me."

"Cuddy? Everything all right? Or do you just need a new idea for tonight's fantasy?"

Cuddy felt her face split into a smile. THERE was the House she knew and loved. Wait, loved?

"You still there?"

"Oh, um, yeah, I'm here, I just…" Actually, Cuddy didn't really know what to say. She just wanted the comfort of his voice, his inappropriate jokes, but she hadn't expected to admit to herself that she…loved him.

"I just wish you were here with me."

Oh, crap! She hadn't meant to say that out loud…

There was silence on the other end.

"House?" she whispered. Oh, no, had she ruined everything? Would he ever speak to her again? She knew that he was…attracted to her, but did he love her?

"I wish I were there, too, Cuddy," House admitted softly.

"Then get your ass over here."

"What about…Lucas?" he hated even to say the name.

"We…we broke up. He said some really awful things about you, and then had the nerve to threaten me! I don't need a jerk like that near my daughter."

"You don't need a jerk like ME near your daughter, either."

Cuddy felt her heart break a little. It was HER fault he thought that.

"House. Listen to me. You…you CAN be a jerk sometimes. And sometimes…sometimes I just hate the way you act. But that doesn't make you a…a BAD person. And Lucas is WAY more of a jerk than you have ever been."

"Thank you," he said so softly she almost didn't hear it. "And I WOULD get over there, except that you're on the rebound."

Cuddy pouted at his refusal. "I'm not asking you to DO anything. I just want you to be here. Please? I'm not trying to get a pity fuck. Besides, if I won't put out on the first date, then I CERTAINLY won't put out BEFORE the first date!"

House chuckled in appreciation of her logic and finally gave in.

"Fine. But just tonight, and just as…um, friends, or whatever-the-hell we are right now. Ok?"

"Ok."

When House got to her place a few minutes later, Cuddy wordlessly let him in and led him to her bedroom. They lay side by side there, together, two broken people healing each other without knowing it.

For a short while, it was a bit awkward, but when House reached over and took her hand, everything else seemed to fade away.

Cuddy fell asleep peacefully that night, aware only of the soft patter of rain against the windowpane and the man next to her who warmly clasped her hand.