A fluffy Valentine's Day one shot in which I'm messing with the timeline. The story takes place about 3 months after 7x15. But don't worry: there are no hookers, no Slutnika and no insane actions like crashing cars into houses.
Thanks a lot to Jane for beta reading :D
One more thing before you read: I'll change my user name to CUDDYownsPPTH
Good Boyfriend
She wasn't the kind of person who cared about Valentine's Day.
It never had been special. Not really.
Years ago when she had been dating some guy named Marcus they went out for dinner on February 14 and she also did last year with Lucas.
The rest of the Valentine's Days she had spent like every other day. Well… ok… admittedly she had often asked herself if she would ever find the right guy and if she would ever marry… but it had never been as depressing, as sad and as hurtful as this year's V-day was.
Her day started by her running into the last person she wanted to run in that day: House.
He insulted her clothes and then disappeared into the elevator.
She went in her office, dropped down on the couch and sighed. God, she missed him.
They accidentally met again during the lunch break.
House just had sat down on his usual spot in the cafeteria when Cuddy walked in.
Their gazes met. Booth looked away immediately.
House put the fork down. He wasn't really hungry anymore. God, he missed her.
The third time their paths crossed that day was when House was leaving the hospital. Cuddy was talking to one of the nurses in the entrance hall as House passed by.
Their eyes met again… It was like they were drawn to each other.
House looked away first and left without saying a word.
Cuddy excused herself and vanished into her office.
Tears were in her eyes.
She missed him. She missed him far too much.
On her way home she passed at least 10 stores that were decorated excessively with pink and read hearts, balloons and flowers.
She asked herself what Valentine's Day would have looked like if she were still with House… Maybe she would have been able to convince him to play her a song on the piano.
But who was she kidding? … House would probably just say that this day of the year was nothing more than a scam that business came up with to squeeze money out of people.
She felt a sting in her heart… Why did she suddenly seem to care about this stupid day? Why now? Why at all?
As she passed another store she again let out a loud sigh and finally admitted that she already knew why she suddenly cared: Because it would have been the first Valentine's Day she would have spent with the man she really loved.
She spent the entire evening with Rachel. First, they had pizza for dinner and then they watched cartoons.
When Cuddy tucked her in that night Rachel asked if she was sad. She denied it. Her daughter shouldn't have to deal with any of her problems.
Cuddy read her a story and kissed her goodnight.
She whispered a soft "I love you" to her precious little girl and left the room.
She poured herself a glass of red wine and read a few pages of the book she was currently reading before she decided to go to bed.
But sleep didn't come.
She kept thinking about House... About their time together and about the fact the she never had and never would love any other man more than she loved House. But she also thought about him using again and about him lying to her and about all the little things he refused to do and that drove her mad.
She climbed out of bed and rifled through her wardrobe. Somewhere in there were a few of his t-shirts she had never given him back. T-shirts which still smelled of him. Maybe it would help her fall asleep if she wore it. Maybe she'd miss him less.
When she finally found the items of clothing she was looking for, she pulled one out and was surprised when something suddenly fell to the floor. Something that apparently had been wrapped in the shirt.
It was a little red, flat gift box.
Due to its crash to the floor the lid had fallen off.
Curiously, she bent down to pick the box up.
She dropped down on the foot of the bed and checked out the content.
And then she froze.
Plane tickets! Three plane tickets to be exact. Tickets from Newark to Dinard.
He was going to take her and Rachel to France!
She swallowed the knot in her throat and unfolded a piece of paper which he had placed under the tickets.
It was confirmation of a reservation of the Master Suite in Hotel L'Ermitage, a luxury hotel in Mont Saint Michel.
When she paid attention to when the flight would have been, tears were starting to run down her cheeks. February 13th… The flight would have been yesterday! He was going to take her there for Valentine's Day! And he had even planned to take Rachel as well because he knew exactly that she hated it to leave her little girl behind.
Cuddy starred a little while longer at the tickets, then she lay down – the box secure in her hands – and wept.
House was woken sharply by the loud sound of the doorbell.
He planned to ignore it and pulled the pillow over his cheek to cover his ear so the ringing wouldn't sound as loud and as annoying.
But the intruder just didn't stop pressing the bell.
Sleepily and in a grumpy mood he got out of bed and made his way to the front door and opened it as he snapped: "What?"
"Hey."
Cuddy.
"What do you want?"
"Can I come in?"
"No."
"Please. I need to talk to you."
"Say what you have to say and then leave." He had no plans to let her into his apartment.
"Ok." She said as she pulled something out of her purse. "I found this."
He recognized the red box immediately. Shit!
"You planned a trip with me and Rach to Mont Saint Michel for Valentine's Day." Her voice was gentle.
He groaned. "I knew I should have hidden it in my apartment."
She ignored him. "This was an incredibly romantic and considerate gesture of you."
"Is there a point to this conversation?"
"I want to say thank you…"
He cut her off and angrily asked: "For what?! For the trip we never made?!"
"No… for trying to be a good boyfriend."
"I apparently was that good a boyfriend that you had to break up with me."
"No, you were that good a boyfriend that I'm ready to give you another chance."
Now she had his full attention. "What?"
"I have 2 fully packed suitcases in my car. As soon as school ends we can pick up Rachel, make our way to Newark and get onto the plane to London. There we have to wait 2 hours for our flight to Dinard."
"What?!" He asked again. He couldn't quite believe what she was saying.
"I want to go to Mont Saint Michel. With you. Today."
"Did someone drug you?"
She smiled and made a step towards him. "If yes then lets hope I stay drugged for the rest of my life."
"You do realize that flying to France means you won't be bossing around people at the hospital for a week, right?"
"Already have a stand-in for me."
"You are serious." House stated.
"Of course I am." Her hand went to his cheek and softly caressed it.
"And I always thought I was insane." A tiny little smile was on his lips.
She chuckled. "We both are."
Suddenly House's expression got serious again. He gripped her hand that had been on his cheek and looked at it for a second before he concentrated his eyes on hers.
"I love you." His voice was hardly louder than a whisper.
She swallowed the knot in her throat. "I know. I love you too… always have."
They looked at each other for a few more moments until House broke the intense stare by saying: "I better go and get my crap together then."
"Good idea. I'll help you."
She followed him into his apartment and was surprised when he suddenly gripped her shoulders, pressed her against the door and started kissing her.
She immediately returned the kiss. Hell… she had missed kissing him.
Cuddy entwined her arms around his neck and got up on her tiptoes to have better access to his mouth.
The time with him at Mont Saint Michel is so going to rock.
- end-
I know... this isn't the best story I have written, I'm not even sure if it makes sense. ^^ But I had fun writing it and I hope you had fun too reading it. Wish you all a great Valentines's Day!
And don't froget that I'll change my user name to CUDDYownsPPTH :)