Finally back again. As usual, I don't own House or Wilson, just Alex.

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The door to Alex's apartment banged open, and Alex knew that could mean damn near anything. He glanced up from the stove, doing his best to pick up whatever vibe House was throwing out there as the other man hung up his coat and toed off his shoes.

He crossed the room with a thoughtful frown on his face, wincing ever so slightly as he eased himself onto the stool in front of the counter. Alex wrinkled his brow in concern, but didn't say anything. House rarely accepted either concern or sympathy, a hard lesson Alex had learned shortly after they had begun their current arrangement. Alex had decided then that he'd rather not be on the receiving end of House's sharp tongue, and had since learned to keep his concern to himself. Instead he simply asked, "Beer tonight, or something stronger?"

"Beer's a good start." House sounded weary. "Might switch over later."

The wheels turned in Alex's head. The thoughtful expression plus the weary countenance seemed to indicate that House's patient was in some sort of holding pattern. Whether that was a good thing remained to be seen. He set the beer in front of House, tilting his head and studying him. House accepted it with a slight huff of irritation and a roll of his eyes. "Don't bother asking. I'm fine."

"I didn't." Alex smiled slightly. "I know better than that."

House was quiet for a long time as Alex turned away to stir his soup. He had managed to branch out somewhat from French toast, and even House had declared most of his meals edible, so Alex had felt encouraged to continue.

"So what are you working on there?" House broke the long silence. "Smells...different."

"Split pea soup with ham shanks." Alex answered him, taking a drink of his own beer.

"Great. Now I have a sudden urge to watch 'The Exorcist'. Damned if I know why."

Alex snorted. "Never seen it, don't plan to."

"What?" House sounded incredulous. "It's a modern classic."

"I don't do horror films." Alex shuddered.

"Aw, come on." House teased him. "I'll let you cuddle up to me during the scary parts."

"Just so you can mock me later? No thanks, I'll pass." Alex scooped up a spoonful of the soup and passed it over the counter. "Now just try this."

House took the bite, a mildly surprised expression taking over his face. "That's actually...not bad. Might even be pretty damn good." He craned his neck over the counter in the direction of the stove. "So when do we eat?"

Alex laughed and shook his head. "A few more minutes."

House kept working through his beer as Alex heated up some rolls in the oven. He crossed the kitchen to take down bowls from the cabinet and spoons from the drawer before crossing back to give the soup one more stir and remove the rolls from the oven. Alex tasted the soup one more time, nodding in approval. "I think we're ready."

House started to slowly rise, but Alex waved him away. "I'll dish up. Don't worry about it."

"No need to baby me." House grumbled, even as he eased himself back onto the stool.

"I'm not." Alex fired back as he passed him a large bowl of the steaming soup. "Just looking out for you a little bit. It's what friends do."

House stopped with his spoon just short of his mouth. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, Doc." Alex sighed as he dished up his own bowl and dumped the rolls into a basket. "No deep hidden meaning."

House's expression went a little dark as he started eating, the silence stretching out between the two of them. "It is good."

"Yeah, thanks." Alex leaned on the counter over his soup bowl, the warmth seeping into him, relaxing him. "I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries earlier, you know."

House simply shrugged, appearing to lose himself in his food. "As long as you keep feeding me like this, we're good. Don't sweat it."

Alex knew there was more to it, but House wasn't going to reveal much more right now. The other man finished his soup and pushed the empty bowl toward Alex. "You want some more?" Alex asked him with a grin.

"Nope." House's voice took on a sleepy tone, and he looked visibly more relaxed than he had when he first came in. He started to carefully ease himself down from the stool, gesturing toward the living room. "Think I'll find something to watch."

"Sounds good." Alex nodded as he started cleaning up. This was becoming a comfortable ritual for them. Most Friday nights found House here, subjecting himself to Alex's cooking experiments and watching movies late into the night.

It was rapidly becoming the highlight of Alex's week, these Friday nights. House was slowly starting to let down his guard, and they had bonded in a very real way despite their significant age difference. For Alex, it was becoming something deeper than friendship, although he wasn't sure House felt the same.

House was a cautious man when it came to anything personal. Over the three months they had been getting together, neither one of them had discussed feelings. House never brought it up, and Alex didn't see the point of rocking the boat. Things were good as they were, Alex decided as he finished cleaning up and joined House in the living room. No sense messing with a good thing.

The other man was situated on the couch when Alex came in, the remote already in his hand. He seemed vaguely uncomfortable, resting his leg on the coffee table and shifting most of his weight to his left side. Alex suspected more was going on than House's usual leg pain, but of course, the older man wouldn't reveal that on his own.

As the evening wore on, Alex couldn't help but notice House's increasing discomfort. By the middle of the second movie, it was obvious the man was hurting. Alex decided it was time to reach out and take a chance.

"Lay down." Alex moved further down the couch and patted his leg.

House regarded him skeptically. "Why?"

"You're hurting more than usual." Alex pointed out. "Don't think I haven't noticed."

House seemed to debate with himself briefly before lowering himself down across Alex's lap, shifting so that his legs stretched out along the length of the couch. He sighed softly as he did so, and Alex could feel House relax against him.

Alex reached out to lightly stroke House's arm. "Better?"

"Mm-hm." House murmured.

"So..." Alex ventured. "Care to tell me what happened?"

"Ssh. Movie's still on." House shut him down, even as he curled a hand around Alex's thigh. Alex couldn't lie. He was really enjoying the sensation of House resting against him. Something about it just felt right, somehow.

The movie ended, and Alex gently plucked the remote out of a sleeping House's hand. House awoke with a snort and a shift, growling as he reached for his hip.

Alex sighed slightly. As he suspected, there was more going on than the leg tonight. "Okay, tough guy. Movie's over. What's going on?"

House made a 'hmph' sound, shifting ever so slightly. "Patient literally knocked me on my ass today. Those hospital floors are kind of hard, you know?"

"Why didn't you say something?" Alex nearly scolded him. "Never mind, don't bother answering that." He patted House's shoulder. "Lift your head."

House did so, and Alex made his way out to the kitchen, pulling a bag of peas out of the freezer and returning to the living room. He placed the makeshift ice pack on House's hip, then took a seat on the coffee table. "Here, hold that." Alex carefully studied House, watching his face as the pain-etched lines smoothed out, and his whole body seemed to relax. "I assume you got things checked out afterward."

House shrugged. "There's nothing to check out. A dying patient has higher priority over a couple of bumps and bruises."

Alex resisted the urge to fuss at House, knowing that the other man wouldn't appreciate the attention. It was more likely that House would bite Alex's head off for his efforts. Instead he nodded. "You take anything for it?"

"Yeah, but...it's been a while." House twisted slightly in an attempt to reach into his right front pocket, huffing slightly when he couldn't reach the object of his search.

"Got it." Alex slid onto his knees in front of House, digging into his pocket for the prescription bottle.

"Hey..." House snarked. "No playing around in there." A resigned expression crossed his rough features. "Don't think I'll be up for anything anyway, if you know what I mean."

"I don't care about that." Alex told him firmly as he found the bottle and presented it to House. "That's not the only reason I keep you around, you know."

"Good thing." House muttered as he popped open the bottle and dry swallowed two pills.

Alex smiled ever so slightly and reached out to stroke the top of House's head. These moments when House actually allowed Alex to take care of him were all too rare, and usually came as a last resort for House. Alex didn't understand why House didn't let him intervene sooner, but better late than never, he supposed.

House closed his eyes at Alex's touch, a small sigh of what sounded like contentment escaping his lips. Alex couldn't help but chuckle just a little. "See, this isn't so awful, is it?"

"What isn't so awful?" House murmured.

"This letting someone take care of you thing." Alex answered softly.

House half-opened his eyes and shrugged. "I'm not completely opposed to it, I guess."

"Good." Alex leaned on the edge of the couch, cradling House's head in his hand and stroking his temple with his thumb. The way House was stretched out along the length of the couch, with his eyes drifting between half-mast and completely closed reminded Alex of a sleepy cat. It was a beautiful image, and he filed it away in his mind for another time.

'Dancing Queen' started singing at House's hip, and he groaned as he pulled it out of his pocket. He pushed himself to a sitting position and flipped it open. "What?"

Alex could hear another man's voice pitched with concern, and House rolled his eyes as the voice continued. "It's nothing. I'm fine...No, just banged up a little bit. Not that big a deal...Don't bother, I'm not home." He glanced across at Alex, who was now seated on the coffee table. "I'm...hanging out with a friend tonight." House huffed irritably. "You're the one who told me having more than one friend was healthy. No reason for you to throw a fit now....Yeah, see you around, Wilson."

House snapped the phone closed and shoved it back in its holder while Alex regarded him with an amused look. "Still haven't told him?"

"Not much to tell." House shrugged. "'Hey, Wilson, you know that friend I told you about? Yeah, I've been doing him for three months. Did I mention he's, like, half my age?' Yeah, that'll go over well."

Alex chucked as he rose from the coffee table, picking up the bag of peas that had slid off House's hip when he sat up to answer his phone and heading toward the kitchen. "You'd be surprised. He might not react as badly as you'd think."

"Doesn't matter." House muttered as he stretched and pushed himself off the couch. "It's my business, no one else's."

Alex was sure there was more to it, but he didn't see any reason to continue this line of conversation. How House chose to handle what was happening between them was his business. Truth be told, Alex hadn't shared the details of things with much of anyone. Not that he was trying to keep it a secret, but still...it was personal, and Alex was fine with keeping it that way, at least for the time being.

He placed the peas in a zipper bag and tossed them back in the freezer. There was no telling when the makeshift ice pack would come in handy again. "Don't worry. I didn't have any big plans to out you. As far as most people know, you're a close friend. Right now, that's all they need to know." Alex returned to the living room where House stood. The man was still clearly favoring his right leg more than usual, a slightly pained expression crossing his weathered features. "So...are you staying or going tonight?"

"Staying." House answered, his shoulders slumping a little. "I don't really feel like moving."

"You don't have to explain yourself, either way." Alex reminded him as he gently placed a hand at House's waist. "You should know that by now."

House nodded, and Alex thought he saw just a hint of a smile replace the pained expression. Alex reached up to stroke House's jaw. "You know I like having you here, right? And not just for what goes on in the bedroom."

House did snort and chuckle a little then, covering Alex's hand with his own and rubbing the young man's palm with his thumb. "Only thing going on in there tonight's going to be me sawing logs."

Alex lightly kissed House on the lips and fixed him with a warm smile. "I'm good with that, too."

House seemed to relax a little, his eyelids falling over his marvelous blue eyes. "You're a good kid, Alex." He murmured.

"So are you." Alex teased in return, earning another small smile for his efforts. "Now let's get you to bed."

House nodded and slowly followed Alex as the young man turned out lights and locked up the place for the night. As they climbed into bed, Alex was surprised to find House wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing up against him. The man was a cuddler, to a certain extent, but this was the first time House had initiated the action.

Alex smiled a little to himself and intertwined his fingers with House's. Maybe, just maybe, this was the start of something more between them. The thought warmed him as much as the combination of House's body and the covers did as he fell asleep.

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You know what comes next. Read and review. :)