Disclaimer: I do not own any of this. I count my lucky stars that the people at Fox creates such a great set of characters.
It Wasn't a Date
"And it wasn't a date," House said, walking out the door. Wilson was dumbfounded. What could Cuddy have wanted if it wasn't a date? She hadn't brought up anything about work. They didn't talk about House, which in itself was unusual; House was what Cuddy and Wilson usually talked about. She had asked him about his divorce. Why would she want to know about his divorce if she wasn't interested? Other than that, all she had wanted to talk about was…
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Wilson entered Cuddy's office without knocking.
"You know, you are becoming more like House everyday," she said in greeting, only raising her eyes from her papers for a second.
"I was actually considering buying a cane the other day," he responded with a small smile. The smile left his face as he sat down in a chair across from her desk. He didn't speak again, just waited for Cuddy to look at him.
"Was there a reason you came to talk to me?" she asked without looking up. "Did House blow up the CAT scan machine this time? Need approval for a lobotomy on a patient who came in complaining of stubbed toe?" When Wilson didn't respond she looked up at him. He was just looking at her, no humor apparent in his face. She held his gaze for a second, then laughed shyly.
"What is it, Wilson?" she asked him. "And don't you dare start making comments about my breasts." That was how she handled things. She made jokes, she was sarcastic. She always went along with House's criticisms, but if Wilson started up with those, she didn't know how she would react. You'd think that being the Dean of Medicine would have cured Lisa Cuddy of embarrassing easily, but as powerful a woman as she was, she couldn't help but squirm under Wilson's gaze. From the day she met him, Cuddy had to consciously make an effort not to blush every time he held her eyes for any period of time.
"You could have just asked me," he said after a moment.
"I'm sorry, what exactly is it that you are talking about?" she asked him. "If this is about Mr. Wesley, I don't exactly need your permission to treat—"
"This isn't about a patient," Wilson said, interrupting her. "This is about you."
"Me? You're going to need to be a bit more specific. We're all not like House, you know. We can't figure everything out from the slightest detail," she said, slightly worried about where this conversation was going.
"I'm talking about dinner last night," he stated. Cuddy's fears were confirmed. It appeared this conversation was going exactly where she had feared it would. "You could have just asked me."
"Did House say something to you? Did he—"
"House isn't the only one who can read a blood test, Cuddy. Regardless of what he tells you, I did go to med school," Wilson said, trying to make her laugh, or at least grin. Anything would have been better than the shocked expression that she was wearing.
"I… uh…" Cuddy was speechless; she had no idea what to say to the man that was sitting in front of her.
"I can't tell you how relieved I was when the results came back confirming that you didn't have cancer."
Cuddy snapped out of her shock. "You were the one that ordered the blood test?" she asked angrily. "I thought that was House. I can't believe that you would do something like that. I could easily see House doing that, he has no respect for personal boundaries. But you…"
"I was worried. We looked through your trash—"
"Yes, I know. House told me as much. Why in the world would you do that? There are boundaries you know! Or have you been spending too much time with House?"
"I do live with him," Wilson said in a rather self-pitying tone. "But House took your garbage all on his own."
"What did you do, run the DNA off an old coffee cup? Steal panties out of my dirty clothes? Why would you run a blood test?" Cuddy asked, honestly wondering why he would do such a thing.
"I was worried about you," Wilson reluctantly told her. "And I didn't get the DNA from a coffee cup. I took your spoon from the restaurant," he muttered. Wilson was well aware that he had crossed a line. But if Cuddy had really had cancer he knew better than anyone that every minute counted. Still, Wilson didn't have the courage to look up at Cuddy. He knew that all that would be awaiting him would be her beautiful blue eyes, and he knew that they would be filled with betrayal and hurt. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Cuddy digesting what she had just heard, and Wilson waiting for her to explode.
"I was afraid," Cuddy said quietly. Wilson's head snapped up at her words. His gaze was met by her tear-filled blue eyes. Wilson had never seen Cuddy so vulnerable. He had always believed that she wasn't afraid of anything, that she could take on an angry lion or an angry House at least, without even flinching. And here she was, the strongest woman he knew, on the brink of tears.
"I was afraid that if I said it out loud, if I asked you, everything would be ruined. You would laugh at me, and I couldn't handle that—"
"I would never—"
"Please don't interrupt me. I'd like to get this out. I was afraid that you would laugh at me. Tell me it was absurd, that you would never even consider such a thing. I don't know when it began. Probably the day House came to this hospital. You were his friend. I couldn't see why. He's an ass. But you were his friend, you didn't cast him aside. You actually talked to him, spent time with him because you wanted to. Everyone else that talks to him has to. You were kind to him, and not because you had to be. You are always kind. I know you would never laugh at me. Especially over this, but I was afraid. I knew that I was only asking you to be a donor, no strings attached. And you would do it too, because you are a good person and you know how much this must mean to me. And you wouldn't just be a donor; you would be there for the baby. I didn't want to drag you into that, not if you didn't want it. Mostly though, I was afraid because I didn't just want a donation. Not from you. That's why I couldn't ask. Because I wanted something more and I knew that you never would."
After her speech Cuddy couldn't bear to look at Wilson. She rested her head in her hands, trying to hide the tears she knew were streaming down her face. She didn't want to see his reaction, knowing that it would be a negative one. James Wilson had absolutely no feelings like that towards Lisa Cuddy. She heard the leather from his chair creak as he stood up and expected to hear the door close behind him. Instead she was shocked to see his brown shoes walking around her desk.
"Cuddy," he said quietly. "Cuddy." She raised her head a bit, but couldn't bring herself to look at him. Cuddy had never put herself on the line like this before. She always knew what she was getting herself into. She was always in control. Wilson was kneeling next to her now. He took her chin in his hand and turned her head so that she had to look at him. She finally looked into his brown eyes and gasped at what she saw. There was no pity, no humor, only compassion.
"You could have just asked, Lisa," he told her quietly.
"I didn't want to pull you in," she said. "I didn't want you to do anything out of pity."
"Who says I would? You know me better than that," he told her, surprised that she would think he would ever do something like that. "Who says it would be something that I wouldn't want to be doing?" At this Cuddy gasped, she couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.
"But you never… you couldn't…" she trailed off. Wilson laughed quietly at her bewilderment. Apparently Lisa Cuddy was not as perceptive as she thought. He thought his feelings towards her were more than obvious. Clearly she couldn't see what he thought had been apparent all along. Wilson smiled as Cuddy continued trying to rationalize what she was hearing. He decided there was only one way to get her to believe him.
Cuddy froze when she felt Wilson's lips on hers. Her eyes went wide and she was too shocked to respond. A second later her eyes slid closed and she surrendered to his kiss. It was not a passionate kiss, but one that was tentative, like trying something for the very first time. It didn't last very long, Cuddy and Wilson separated a second later. Her eyes remained closed until Wilson cleared his throat.
"Well, now that you believe that I—" He was powerless to complete his sentence because Cuddy's hand reached around his neck and pulled him back to her for a much more passionate kiss. The need and desire on both parts was apparent in this kiss, and had it not been rudely interrupted by a certain crippled doctor who's to say where it would have led.
"Well now, I see that you aren't busy," House said nonchalantly. "I need you to sign off on this, Cuddy. Young boy. Brain problem. Gonna die if we do nothing. I'm glad you understand. Just sign on the line," House said in a tone that made his request seem like the most mundane thing in the world. Cuddy and Wilson were staring at each other, both shocked at what had just happened. Cuddy made no move to acknowledge that House was even in the room.
"Cuddy!" he shouted. She snapped out of her trance.
"What do you want, House?" she asked in her most annoyed tone.
"Like I said. Young boy. Brain problem. Gonna die. Actually might be dead now because you were too busy making eyes at Wilson to sign off on the procedure. I'm sure t he parents will understand."
"Shut up, House. And give me the damn form!" Cuddy signed House's form and he turned to leave. Meanwhile, Wilson watched the two of them, completely baffled at their total normalcy. He would never understand their relationship. It was amazing how hostile they could be to each other without actually striking blows. House was at the door when he turned back.
"You know, Cuddy, if you're so hot for Wilson why the hell bother with IVF? Unless you missed that lecture in med school, there are other ways to make little uber-Cuddys." With that House left the room leaving Wilson and Cuddy alone.
"How about that?" Wilson said. "House has a point."
"You willing to give it a try?" Cuddy asked, stepping closer to Wilson.
"Damn," Wilson said quietly. "I'm gonna owe House a thousand dollars."
"Excuse me?" Cuddy asked, slightly offended that Wilson would be thinking of a bet with House at a time like this.
"Yeah, he bet me five hundred dollars that we would eventually do 'the nasty.'"
"When was this?" Cuddy asked with a laugh.
"The day you hired him," Wilson said, looking bewildered. Cuddy looked completely shocked as well.
"That man would bet on his own mother dropping dead!"
"I was married then. I even doubled it up. Damn!" Cuddy laughed at Wilson. She found the whole situation rather comical. Who would have known that Greg House had seen it all along. Wilson watched her as she laughed and he smiled. When their eyes me he leaned in and kissed her.
Wilson looked at Cuddy and was rewarded with one of her gorgeous smiles.
"Best thousand dollars I ever spent."
The End
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. It's my first House fic so let me know what you think. Feedback is appreciated more than you know.