"We could just tell her."
"I don't want to tell her."
"Why not?"
"It's none of her business."
"She's not going to use it against you. Especially since I'm involved."
"I know."
"So why don't you want to tell her?"
"I just don't!" House exploded.
Wilson blinked, sitting in the chair opposite. House had been irritable all week and it was starting to annoy Wilson.
"It's because it's me isn't it?" He asked. "If it were a girl you'd have no problem flaunting it in front of everyone."
"No, it's not," House softened a little. "I'm just... I'm not used to having a personal life and I don't really want anyone else knowing."
"What if I do?" Wilson asked frowning. "Why can't I tell Cuddy?"
"It's supposed to be two way Wilson," House said.
"Exactly and all you've done is taken from me," Wilson snapped, standing up. "I'm going to finish up my clinic duty. I'll see you later."
"Wilson," House sighed. "James wait!"
But Wilson was already out of the door.
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Jack stared at the letter in front of him. He knew he was dreaming and it should have his real name on it, but it had been so long since he'd used it that he'd almost forgotten that person entirely.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his mother. Her beautiful blonde hair, the dazzling smile he'd inherited, but she always looked so tired nowadays. One whole year since his Dad had died and Gray had disappeared.
Neither of them had stopped looking. They'd taken trips halfway across the planet in the hope someone had found Gray, taken him and looked after him. Now Jack was staring at written confirmation he'd been accepted into the academy. In a few years time he could sign up and help fight. He could become a pilot and take down as many of the creatures that had destroyed his family as possible. Somehow, it wasn't as pleasant a thought as he had previously dreamt it to be.
"I'm so proud of you son," his mother squeezed his shoulder gently.
"Mom," Jack began, folding the letter up and carefully placing it back inside the envelope. "I... I was thinking..."
"We'll have to have a proper celebration later," his mother continued, apparently not having heard Jack. "You could invite some of your friends round. Levlin, Vincent, Sandy-"
"Sandy was Gray's friend," Jack said quietly.
His mother froze. She turned back to the table where Jack was sat, staring at the yellow envelope. In one quick movement she was by his side, one hand on his shoulder again. But this time the hand was gripping just a little too tight, the smile not quite reaching his mother's eyes.
"What did you say?" She asked.
"Sandy was Gray's friend and you know it," Jack didn't meet his mother's gaze.
His mother's hand moved so quickly he barely had time to react and Jack was on the floor clutching his cheek before he knew what was happening.
"Oh, son, I'm sorry, I didn't-" his mother was babbling, but Jack wasn't listening.
He stood up and ran outside onto the sand, pushing a few smaller kids out of the way as he went, tears rolling down his face as one hand gently rubbed the cheek his mother had slapped.
It was never about him anymore. Whenever anything good happened, it always ended up leading back to his Dad and Gray, like somehow the only reason for anything anymore was their deaths. His Dad's death. There was still no proof Gray was dead.
Jack ran all the way to the tree he'd hidden under all those solstices ago when he'd finally realised he'd let go of Gray's hand. It was all his fault. It was always his fault. He sat crying. He wished he'd never taken that stupid flying test.
"Hi," a voice that sounded far too cheerful popped into ear shot a few feet away. Jack looked up and saw Levlin stood in front of him. "What's up with you?"
Jack wiped his eyes.
"Nothing," he said taking a shaky breath.
"Hey what happened to your face?" Levlin reached out a hand to Jack's cheek, but he flinched away before his friend could touch it. "Sorry."
Lev's hand dropped to his side and he sat beside Jack, watching some of the other kids run about laughing.
"Vince isn't coming out today," Lev continued, changing tact. "His Mom caught him wearing her dress again."
Jack smiled slightly and almost laughed.
"Was that a smile?" Levlin teased.
"No," Jack quickly wiped the smirk off his face.
"Yes it was," Levlin poked Jack in the side.
"Fine you big idiot," Jack elbowed his friend back. "It was a smile."
"See, I knew I could cheer you up," Levlin grinned. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Not really," Jack shook his head. "I got my letter of confirmation today. I'm in the academy."
"Fantastic! So am I!" Levlin stood up. "This calls for a celebration!"
He held out a hand to his friend and hoisted Jack to his feet. Jack stumbled and found he was suddenly stood just a little too close. The 51st century had few social boundaries. If you loved someone you loved them, there was no one to judge anymore, very little prejudice. That didn't mean it was any easier telling someone when you fancied them.
"Look, we could carry on like this forever," Levlin sighed rolling his eyes.
"What?" Jack looked confused.
"Just kiss me already," Lev took Jack's hand, lowering his voice and being serious for once. "I've known that you've wanted to for, like, ever."
Jack swallowed. Sometimes Levlin was smarter than Jack gave him credit for. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack woke with a start. His heart ached. No matter how long a person had been gone, it still hurt when he remembered them. He turned over and found himself face to face with a very much awake Ianto.
"Are you ok?" The Welshman asked. "You were calling for someone called Levlin."
"I'm fine," Jack said, his stomach twisting into knots.
Ianto didn't look like he believed Jack, but he didn't press the matter either. Gwen would've dived straight in with questions and demanded to know everything which made it easy to deny and lie. Ianto always waited for answers, which made it so easy to give them.
Jack's stomach suddenly did another back flip. He sat up. That wasn't good. He barely made it to the bathroom before he was throwing up.
