Name: Trust.

Writer: Ann.

Fandom: House.

Rating: PG.

Timeline: During the end of "Holding On" (8X23).

Disclaimer: All rights for House reserved to Fox and the studios. I don't own anything (unfortunately).

Others: I am House. You can deny, but in the end, that's who I am. That's where it's coming from.

He never trusted anyone, simply because he never had any reason to. From the first moments he remembered until what he hoped would be the final day of his life, other than very few occasions, he didn't really have anyone he knew he can trust. Either people around him lied to him, or they were so stupid in comparison to him, that he had no reason to care about their judgment. And he was let down so many times in his life, was abused by his own father and betrayed by his girlfriend, that he no longer thought human relationships meant anything.

You see, he always had issues. He was a complete jerk. He would have said he simply told people the truth, whether they liked it or not, but any other person with a bit of tact on earth would've said differently. He knew everybody lies, so he made it a rule not to trust anyone he meets. He lied and cooperated only when it served his needs. In some ways, he was more of a child than the little kids he treated every now and then.

But he wasn't a child because he didn't want to grow up. He was never one of these people who acted like kids because they needed attention, or because they didn't want to change, or because they simply liked it better that way. No. He had forced himself to remain a child in these ways because this was the only way he could deal. After his father and his girlfriend and his leg, all he wanted to do was to disappear. But with the help of the only real friend he's ever had, he made it through and turned into an even more cynical jerk. Everyone put up with him. He was such a genius, that nearly no one has ever dared to threaten him, and even the ones who tried regretted it.

But everything that's happened to him, it all started with his trust issues. You see, when he was twelve he found out his father wasn't really his father. Due to his nature and his brilliance, he had never had any real friends. Like everyone, he cheated – mostly during his studies – and lied. Only unlike everyone around him, he saw all the lies others have told. He knew they lied, and so he never trusted them. And once he saw he's the only one who can see the right way, clear in truthful in front of him, he realized that he is the only person he needs.

He never knew why he decided to trust the man who was now his best friend. He couldn't tell what drew him to him. He only knew he was the only person who was interesting in that conference. As his friend once said, their friendship was based on the fact he was bored for one weekend. But whoever was responsible for this- he thanked him. That was, until that day.

He didn't want to need him. If it was his choice, he wouldn't need anyone. He never needed people, not from the day he found out his entire family was based on a lie. Of course, he didn't like people much even before, but that made everything worst. He didn't need anyone since, not until the woman he loved that was responsible for what happened to him and his best friend came into his life. Then everything looked different in his eyes.

But as always, she betrayed him, and he left her, knowing he could never forgive her for breaking his so-carefully-given trust. His best friend would have said his trust issues had only gotten worse. Which, to be honest, would be true, since he had trusted people even less since that day. He couldn't bring himself to get hurt again.

And that was all that it was, really, even on that day. He was sitting by his piano playing his heart out, the one many people thought he no longer had. He was being childish, acted in a way a true friend would never have acted in. He broke up the only relationship that had ever meant this much to him. He got hurt once again.

All because he trusted.

Gregory House never trusted. Not until Wilson. Even then, it took him a long time until he trusted him, and from then on, he knew he'd have someone there with him forever. Someone who would be part of his silly games, someone who will be there for him when he needed and someone who wouldn't judge him the way everyone else did when they encountered him. He thought he'd have someone who would do everything for him. He trusted Wilson to do everything to be there with him until the last moment.

He still couldn't believe he trusted. Some parts of him still wanted to pretend it didn't happen. But as he thought about it, he realized even he had to trust that one person. He may have gotten burned more severely than other people when he was young, and combined with his brilliance and later with his pain his life really was quite a hard thing, but he still needed to have someone by his side. No matter who you are, you need to have that one person that you can trust. That is, if you're not living alone on the top of a mountain.

Even Gregory House needed someone to trust. Someone who would be there for him. Someone to be there for.

As he finally processed that last thought, he heard someone ringing the doorbell. He got up to open it, but as he did he paused, realizing what has gone through his mind while he was playing. He always knew his trust was fragile and that so far no one in the world was good enough to be able to keep it. That is, until Wilson. Throughout the years, Wilson managed to both keep him safe and sane – as much as he could be – and keep House trusting and loving him. And even he needed it.

As he open the door and spoke to his best friend, finally admitting his idea was stupid, he mentally slapped himself. He had Wilson. He needed Wilson. But other than him, he knew he could never trust anyone else. They had all failed him so hard, that he could see no point in trusting them. Stacy, Cuddy, his family… he was always betrayed. His trust was always broken.

Trust.

Other than Wilson, Gregory House didn't trust. That was him.