Author's note: This is a short one folks, promise the next one will be a bit longer.

Once again, f you enjoy it and want me to write more chapters please comment. No comments = me not writing the (possibly) final chapter :D

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The next day Wilson was walking around the conference hall pondering his conversation with House earlier that morning when he saw Cuddy sitting on the deck with Rachel. His conversation with House about the 80's party the night before had been very cursory and he felt that there had been a lot House had left out. Maybe Cuddy would fill him in and he'd be able to get a better picture of what had happened. He approached her and exchanged pleasantries before attempting to broach the topic with her.

"So…How did you like 80's night?" he enquired.
"House talked with you?"

"I was being subtle about it. You left suddenly. I know House can be a little much sometimes."

"No, he was sweet. I just know better than to rely on that."

"He's trying."

"Yeah, I know. I'm a mother now. I need a guy I can count on every single day. That's never been House."

Wilson nodded understandingly. He knew that House went through moods where he tried very hard to act in a socially acceptable manner. Then, as soon as he was busy, stressed or distracted, curmudgeonly House would be back and standing on everyone's toes. He thought this time might be different though – House was still being House, he was just being House in a more restrained way. Usually when he went through his phases it was like there was a different person walking around in House's skin and it always left you wondering what he was up to. This time it was obvious that the rude, arrogant House was still there, he just seemed to be a little less irritable and insulting. Maybe this time would be different.

"Then again…" he started
"No James, I don't want to hear any 'ifs', 'buts' or 'maybes'. House is House and always will be. He'll always be just a little bit immature, a little bit arrogant, a little bit unreliable, and just as obsessed with his puzzles. He was always obsessive, even before the infarction and vicodin addiction. He's too old to change that."
"Can't teach old dogs new tricks?"
"Something like that."
"You know, I had an old dog once. I went away for summer camp and the kid next door started playing with him. When I came back he suddenly knew how to roll over and play dead. He'd never done that before."
"House isn't a dog. He's a complicated, damaged, and stubborn man. Do you really think he could change, even if he wanted to?"
"I think if House puts his mind to something he can make it happen. I think he would do whatever was necessary if it would achieve his aims. There's not much he wouldn't do for you."
"Don't start with that, James. House blew his chances with me a long time ago. I need to move on and live my life. If that means hurting his ego a little on the way, well, so be it."
"I don't think it's his ego you're going to hurt."
"His pride then."
"No, not that either. Just ask yourself, Lisa, which hospital, and which doctor, did he go to when he had has infarction? He could have chosen any hospital in New Jersey, gone to 'better' doctors, but he chose your hospital and you to be his attending. He trusted you with his life, and he trusted you with his leg."
"And he's punished me for it ever since."
"Has he really? Look at how House mocks his patients. He calls them idiots or morons, makes out that they are totally insignificant to him. Occasionally he'll take the time to think up a more scathing insult, but generally he sticks to his favourites. Then there's you. When he insults and degrades you it's always something personal. He knows everything about you, pays attention to what is going on in your life, takes an interest. Show me anybody else he has done that with."
"So because he can insult me in a way that is more personal it means he likes me? Come off it! He just likes insulting people."
"Really? Have a think about it, you'll see what I mean" And with that comment he walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She'd done her best not to think about House since that terrible day last year when he had announced to the entire hospital that he'd had sex with her. She'd been so furious. She'd thought he was just pulling another one of his stunts, trying to annoy and infuriate her. What she hadn't known at the time was that he believed every word of it. Amber's death, Kutner's suicide and his increasing dependence on vicodin had combined and driven him over the edge. In his mind he'd turned to the one person he thought could help him and created a fantasy around that idea. Why that person had been her, she still didn't completely understand. She'd used his time in Mayfield to put both physical and emotional distance between them, re-evaluate her relationship with him. They had so much history together that it was hard to draw a line in the sand and say 'no more'.

Their affair at school had been so short. A week or so of flirting, another week of semi-dating, one wonderful night where it seemed the entire Universe had revolved around them. And then…nothing. She'd never heard from him again. It was like he'd disappeared off the face of the earth. Rumour had it that he'd been expelled, or moved to Belize to be physician to a powerful drug lord, or just committed suicide. Nobody seemed to know the whole truth of it. Cuddy had eventually managed to get enough clues together to work out what had really happened – House had been expelled from Johns Hopkins and had withdrawn completely from society. Knowing how proud he had been of his attendance at Hopkins Cuddy could understand his reaction. What she couldn't understand was why she had been included in that social distancing – she'd thought that their relationship was deeper than that.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She refused to think about House and twist herself into knots over him. She'd spent 20 years or more being tangled up with him somehow. She needed to cut loose and live her own life before it was too late. She had a daughter to think of now. House would just have to grow up and learn to stand on his own two feet without her to rely on.

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