A/N: It's been a while since I wrote a piece just for the sake of it being a shipment based fic. But here it is! Please read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: House, M.D. and its original character belong to David Shore and Fox. I am making absolutely no money from this. This is only written for fun.
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Her office blinds were closed, Wilson noticed as he was making his way out to his car and on his way home. The blinds were closed, but the lights were on. Curiously, Wilson altered his route and knocked on Cuddy's door.
"I'm busy." Cuddy's voice was stifled by the heavy glass doors, but Wilson could still hear her through them. He could not help but notice her voice wasn't as authoritative as it should have sounded if she really were busy with work; it sounded like a mixture of sadness and anger. He had heard that tone before.
"I'm coming in." Wilson pushed open one of the doors slowly and made his way inside the dimly lit room, closing the door softly behind him.
Cuddy was sitting in one of her new lounge chairs to the left of the room.
"What's wrong?" Wilson asked, already knowing that it must be something to do with House.
"Nothing's wrong," clarified Cuddy, "everything's normal."
"I think it's a little abnormal that your blinds would be closed instead of open considering you just had your office remodeled."
Her legs were crossed over one another while she sat, and she uncrossed them to sit up on the edge of the seat. "I was a fool to think that House would be anything other than his normal. Nothing will ever change."
Wilson nodded, understanding suddenly washing over him. He stepped closer to where Cuddy was sitting. "He's never going to change, but that doesn't necessarily mean your relationship is stuck where it is."
"Oh, believe me," started Cuddy, "I told you it's over between me and him; not only does he have a negative amount of relationship sense or romance, could you imagine what things would be like if we ever did get together?"
"It'd start off exciting," Wilson began, quoting Cuddy's earlier words, "You'd get caught up in the novelty and the hostility and the forbiddenness and then realize that the flirty hostility is just hostility and his inability to open up is no longer exiting it's just frustrating. And then—"
"Okay," Cuddy cut Wilson off, "You told me that maybe novelty and forbiddenness and hostility doesn't always have to end badly," Cuddy reminded him, beginning her point.
Wilson nodded.
Cuddy continued, "But House—even without all those things, is still House." Wilson waited for further explanation as Cuddy stood to her feet. "He would at the very least cheat on me within the first month," she said this with great conviction.
"So he's not always faithful," Wilson said in a 'so what' tone, "that's because he's scared of a real relationship—that there's actually a possibility for him to be happy and if he ruins that then he'll never be happy, but if you could just show him—"
"He's not like you."
Cuddy's comment struck Wilson silent. After a moment he could only utter the question, "what?"
Cuddy took one step closer to Wilson. "You're romantic and sensitive and know how to treat a woman."
Wilson looked down at the floor, then back up slowly, "I'm not always faithful either," he said quietly.
"I don't believe that." Cuddy knew that Wilson was a good man, and he wasn't as destructive as House. House would cheat for the sake of cheating—even if he did truly love the person he was with, like Wilson said, he would cheat because he was scared, and love never fails to scare a person whose heart has been broken before.
Wilson, on the other hand, thought more logically, and would most likely only cheat if he had good reason.
Wilson didn't know what to say, and Cuddy took yet another small step toward him. "Tell me what you told me before," prompted Cuddy, "while we were in this office."
Wilson looked confused, "I like the desk?"
Cuddy almost smiled, but clarified the situation for him, "You have some feeling for me; you always have..." Cuddy paraphrased from Wilson this time.
Wilson regained his composure, "you told me that was only to make House jealous."
"I told you," reiterated Cuddy, "You didn't tell me." Wilson furrowed his brow as Cuddy continued, "I assume I was wrong."
When Wilson said nothing in return Cuddy continued, "I've seen you lie before. I've seen you when you're plotting—especially where House is involved, but that look on your face," Cuddy paused to look at Wilson's current facial expression. It was a blend of confusion, fear, and embarrassment. "You seemed nervous the entire time you were bearing your soul apparently for House's sake; you seemed almost timid when we made dinner plans, and genuinely shocked when I suggested we have sex." Cuddy took the final step to close the distance between herself and Wilson. "But when I pulled the plug and unraveled your 'plan' you seemed relieved." Cuddy began her analysis, "You wouldn't have been nervous if you had rehearsed what you were going to say to me without actually feeling any truth to your claims at all," Cuddy reasoned, "If you suspected I actually knew what was going on, you wouldn't have been so surprised, and your relief was inconsistent as well. You wouldn't have been relieved that your plan fell apart so easily, so either I'm wrong and I can't read you as well as I thought, or I jumped to conclusions and ruined our date."
"What was I supposed to say?" asked Wilson, defeated, "No, House has nothing to do with this; you misjudged my intentions and nullified my emotions," he shook his head, "that would have been embarrassing for both of us."
They didn't speak for a couple seconds before Cuddy broke the awkward silence, taking a step back. "So now what?"
"I'm not over Amber." Wilson spoke almost inaudibly.
"I know," assured Cuddy, "you'll never stop loving her."
Wilson smiled softly at Cuddy's understanding, unlike House's belief that death somehow completely removes a person from another's memories. "You missed one more clue," claimed Wilson.
Cuddy silently urged his explanation and he gave it to her. "I would never go on a date with you just to mess with House, because I wouldn't be playing with his emotions, I'd be toying with yours."
Cuddy smiled. "Let's have dinner."
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A/N: please review and let me know what you think! More to come soon! It is a weekend after all! :D
