Who we value the most

'Is there any particular reason you're standing in my office staring at me?'

Wilson tilted his head upwards from his paperwork and allowed his eyes to focus on the troubled expression of the man in front of him. He was about to carry on his assault when the continued look of despondency on his friend's face changed his mind. Instead he uttered only one word.

'House.'

To anyone else he may have been simply stating a name and nothing more but in Wilson's unique way he conveyed so much empathy, concern and curiosity when voicing that particular word that it had become almost like an art form that had taken years to perfect. He waited quietly to be rewarded for putting this skill into action.

'I phoned Cuddy.'

Blue eyes darted upwards to gage the reaction of the man seated in a room House had come to be as comfortable in as most people are in their own homes. Wilson simply blinked a few times, stared a lot and moved his mouth as if to talk, although no words formed for quite some time after the initial response. Finally he was able to speak.

'This is unexpected.'

'Why?'

'Because it was the mature thing to do.'

'You haven't heard the rest of the story yet.'

Wilson ominously placed his parker pen down onto the dark wooded table. Flipping over the file he had been studying and turning over the pages of his notebook, he pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his left eye before folding his arms and swinging his legs onto the table, indicating that he was now fully braced to hear the disaster unfold. House limped towards the couch and plonked himself down. Cane between his legs, hands gripped tightly to it and head resting against it, he was now also ready to relay the events.

'There was ALOT of screaming at first and expletives, words I didn't even think she had in her vocabulary. I mean I've never had to actually move my ear from a receiver until yesterday. I knew she had a dirty mouth I just didn't think...'

'You're stalling House, what was actually said?'

The words came out cold and clinical and had the desired effect of stopping House dead in his tracks. Wilson was setting up the ground rules of the conversation. There would be little light hearted bantering and definitely no mocking of Cuddy sexually. Those days were long gone when they could comfortably do so because she was simply the token hot female friend, the boss lady and they the teenage minded subordinates of the woman with a great cleavage and ass to boot. There was too much hurt and history now for all three of them. It also didn't help that Wilson was still quietly pissed off about what House had done in retaliation to her rejection and how he himself had been caught in the crossfire. House quickly changed his tone from flippant to a subduing nature in order to fall into the correct ambiance of how his friend wanted this conversation to play out.

'I...apologised. She didn't believe I was being sincere. '

'Were you?'

'Of course not, not entirely but I was putting on a good act so as far as she knew I could have been.'

'You forget that like me she knows you much better than that. So why did you phone? It clearly wasn't to apologise. Do you want her back?

The Diagnostician began rubbing his chin with the cane before shooting Wilson a pensive look that communicated truthfulness.

'No.'

The word came out bitter. Wilson had hit some sort of a nerve so he figured he had to continue and push House to answers until he signalled he was done with confiding by either storming out, or making a bitterly sarcastic comment in the Oncologist's direction with the sole purpose of indicating it was time to back off. Wilson took a deep breath and forebodingly continued onward.

'Then why phone? You must have needed something important from her to put yourself in as much of an emotionally awkward position as that.'

'I needed an answer.'

'To?'

'Why she broke up with me?'

'She already told you!'

'I needed the real answer Wilson not the fake, diluted and ambiguous one she tossed my way. Well I got it and guess what? it looks like the breakdown of me and Cuddy was largely your fault boy wonder. In a non direct kind of way.'

'Me!'

'Apparently I care more about you, I rely more on you, I value your opinions and advice more and I show more of my 'inner emotional self'-direct quote- to you. She said if she couldn't overtake you and the importance you have in my life even when she was screwing me then she'd never overtake you.'

Wilson pushed himself out of his seated position and began pacing the room with his hands on his hips. It was some moments before he spoke and in this time all House had done was eye him curiously with a sly look etched onto his face that betrayed nothing of what he was thinking.

'I don't actually know what to say.'

'Don't be upset, guilty or embarrassed Wilson. This is a good thing. This clearly means she wasn't as important as we both thought she was, which is actually good news for me and you, not so much for her.'

At this Wilson turned towards the couch his doctor's coat flailing behind him. He stopped abruptly at his friends knees and threw his hands in the air in a wild gesticulation, which signalled to House that Jimmy was about to get both serious and slightly unhinged.

'House! She split up with you because she was jealous of what I and you have and you choose to be glib about this?'

Wilson with hands on hips and mouth agape stood eagerly awaiting the Diagnostician's response. He stupidly concluded in that section of time that he had now heard everything there was to hear. Upon the next words however, he realised this was a rash assumption.

'She isn't saying anything that's not true. If she'd have ever asked me, 'who is more important to you? Me or Wilson?' I'd have said Wilson. If she had ever said, 'whose opinion and advice do you value more? I'd have said Jimbo's of course! If she'd ever said,' who do you care about more?' Wilson. I can't get angry with her for being astute. However I can get angry at her for using that astuteness against me and ruining the good thing I had going because she had to become all 'sensitive' about not being numero uno in my eyes.'

'You really think that much of me?'

Blue eyes hit brown ones and quietness filled the air. A meaningful silence and a penetrating look really could say everything. However like everything in life it couldn't last forever. House deflected and Wilson accepted.

'Jeezzzz back to you again. It's been you, you, you all night.'

' Ohh I'm so sorry forgive me. I'll just put your devotion to me on the back burner for now, please continue'

'Well she hung up for the fifth and final time when I happened to mention to her that I did over a year in prison for her on a 'crime of passion', clue in the context of the sentence being I was dangerously crazy when it came to her. She didn't take kindly to me suggesting that driving a car through her House should be taken as a real compliment, since I didn't drive a car through your loft when you kicked me out for Sam. '

'Shocking that she took offence to that.'

'I know! She didn't even call me on the fact that you can't physically drive a car into a loft. Not even a monster truck is achieving that.'

'Why didn't you screw with my loft in some way now that I think of it? I'm hurt that you didn't at least damage the furniture. Does our love mean nothing to you?'

'Sarcasm doesn't suit you Wilson.'

'It's never really suited you all that much either, continue'

'That's it. The last words she said to me were 'go to hell House'. It's nice to platonically end these things in the initial manner in which they start out I find.'

Wilson crumpled onto the couch and hid the small smile that had appeared on his face from House's view. Sometimes he did love the snarky sarcastic comments but he didn't always have to let House know that. His thoughts on this subject where interrupted by the low and thoughtful voice of the man only inches from him and whose breath he could feel on his neck when he spoke.

'Ironic isn't it? That I spent countless years driving Bonnie and Julie slowly crazy by proving to them that I was more important to you than them, leading to them leaving or cheating on you because they finally realised you just didn't want them enough. If you did they'd have overtook me and my needs every time. Now you go and screw me over in the same way and you didn't even realise you had done it.'

'You never mentioned Sam or Amber, WHY?'

'That's what you want to focus on right now Wilson, that I excluded the two mega bitches from my analogy, How self important are you today, you jerk.'

'This isn't going on the back burner, I must insist upon you answering the question.'

Wilson nudged his friend slightly, their shoulders and knees knocking together for the briefest of time. House and Wilson faced each other and both had the not entirely uncomfortable feeling that in sitting there so close, with only the light pollution from outside lighting the room, they had suddenly and unexpectedly been thrust into a very intimate setting. House cleared his throat as if sensing his friends similar thought process and faced forward once more.

'Calm down Judge Judy, I was about to. I didn't mention them because they were the only two I didn't expose to be unworthy of your time. Can't compete with a dead girlfriend who had me-like qualities and an ex wife from before our friendship who was always the one screwing you over not the other way around. You really wanted Sam and you really wanted Amber; therefore I couldn't penetrate the banshee curse they had over you. That's why you kicked me into touch when those two came along. It was just on much more amicable terms with cutthroat bitch cause she got me, being like me and all. However cutthroat bitch two just didn't get how it was supposed to work and neither did you for that matter.'

Wilson stood up from the couch and leered down at House, face full of realisation and curiosity. He made his presence such that House was forced to look directly at him.

'House are we having our own phone call type thing right now? Do you think I hurt you with Sam and Amber?'

'No Wilson, I don't think you hurt me, I know you did.'

House pushed himself up off the couch and began limping quickly towards the door of the office. Wilson, already standing, was quicker and had been prepared for such a thing occurring. He therefore made it to the door first and barred the Diagnosticians exit strategy.

'It hurt you when I put them first? Why? You almost sound as irrational as Cuddy. What possible reason could you...unless... ohhhhh'

'Look this was really fun but I gotta dash...well to be more technical I gotta limp. '

'House'

There it was again with just as much power and intensity as the first time it was uttered. Their closeness was immeasurable now, their eyes locked in poker stares each giving nothing away. House finally broke the contact by gripping the door handle and lightly shoving Wilson from his path before almost undetectably stuttering the first few words of his next piece of dialogue.

'This is not how the conversation was meant to go. You were meant to sympathise about what a delusional bitch Cuddy was for being jealous of a harmless friendship. You were meant to agree that although rash, based upon her reasoning, my reasoning for levelling her house was justified. Then you were meant to offer to buy me dinner from somewhere my leg tag doesn't allow me to go and bring it to mine for 8:30 tonight.'

Wilson moved a step closer to his friend and tentatively rested his hand on his arm, displaying a facial expression which screamed of new understandings.

'Harmless...'

It wasn't the other word but it may as well have been. It conveyed just as much in its utterance. As quickly as it was said Wilsons face broke into a small smile and for those of a really perceptive nature, a hint of a blush rested their in those cheeks. House most definitely picked up on it. He also most definitely would never mention it.

'Goodbye House. I'll see you tonight. We'll talk more then.'

'You can. I'm done talking. See ya Wilson.'

With that he slipped out of the office. All thoughts of Cuddy were now removed from his head. His visit to Wilson's room had never really been about her anyway. However the worrying thing for House was that Wilson now realised this to.