Return
AN: Okay, here's a mini filler chapter before more drama-esque themes start. Also, I've decided that I won't be including Dominikia in the story, because she is who she is.
Summary: "But you know that I'm always going to be the one who screwed us up." He never expected her to admit defeat, but here she was. Lisa Cuddy was giving in.
House/Cuddy. AU-ish. post 8x04.
Part IX
"You can't be serious." James Wilson stood on the front porch, and he eyed the woman in front of him, "There's no way that she just decided that working for House would be best for her. Julia, what did you tell her to say?"
Julia Cuddy rolled her eyes, not surprised to see her sister's ex's best friend on her doorstep, and she ushered Wilson inside the house quietly. "You know, people are going to start wondering why you keep showing up on my doorstep in all hours of the night." She shut the door behind her, "But I'm not really surprised anyways, Lisa said that House does it to her a lot."
"He does?" Wilson hovered awkwardly by the living room, unsure if he should go in and sit down or not, "Funny. Neither of them ever mention that to me, and well, you'd figure that House would say something every now and then. Considering I'm his best friend and all." He rocked back and forth on his feet, "What exactly has she told you about their relationship?"
Laughing, Julia looked at Wilson, her eyebrow raised, "And why do you think that I'm going to tell you everything that my sister's told me? Just because Lisa and I are complete opposites when it comes to relationships doesn't mean that I'm going to be spilling all her secrets to you."
"That isn't what I meant," Wilson began slowly, feeling slightly out of place, "I meant that it doesn't surprise me that House shows up on your sister's doorstep at all hours of the night, he occasionally does the same to me as well." He paused, changing the topic away from House and Cuddy's relationship, "Did she tell you that Foreman caved and gave her the job?"
"Lisa's half-insane going to work for House," Julia nodded, registering Wilson's comments, "I know she wanted to go back to Princeton-Plainsboro, and if she thinks she belongs there, then I'm glad she has a job. But I don't think it made any sense at all for her to work for House. She knows how their relationship turned out last time she tried to let their work dynamics control their personal life too."
"We all know that," Wilson nodded, "But she had a good point when she was telling me about it. You know as well as I do that if House screws up this time then he'll end up back in jail, and now that Cuddy isn't dean there anymore, she can't keep covering up his mistakes. And there's no way in hell that Foreman is going to let House's mistakes ruin his so-called reputation." He sat down on one of the plush chairs in the living room, looking at Julia, "If Cuddy ends up working on House's team, then it's the only shot she will have to possibly repair their relationship."
"So basically you're making Lisa at fault if anything goes wrong?" Julia raised her eyebrows at Wilson, surprised, "Because if you are, then you must be seriously mistaken. After all, we've spent this whole time trying to convince the both of them that they can make a relationship work, and if you're expecting House to do whatever the hell he wants while my sister is responsible for everything, then I'm not sure if I want them to get back together."
"That's the exact opposite of what I want," Wilson protested, "I know that House knows Cuddy better than anyone else at that hospital, and vice versa. Without Cuddy working with him, House is going to back to being his own careless self, and he will find a way to screw up and land himself back in jail. I'm certainly not expecting Cuddy to force House to change, but I know him, and if he knows that him trying to control his behavior might help repair their relationship, then he will."
"I'm not so sure about that," Julia nodded quietly, "House doesn't change, at least according to everything that Lisa has ever told me about him. There's no proof that the two of them working together again is suddenly going to change his work ethics, especially if it's the kind of thing that he knows how to get away with without being caught."
"He will get caught," Wilson interrupted, "Foreman isn't letting anything slip by him. I know you don't know the dynamics there like both Cuddy and I do, but there's no way that he's going to make it a year without screwing up and landing himself back in jail." He paused, "I want them to work out their relationship as much as you do, but I'm not willing to risk House landing himself back in jail."
"What about that mail-order bride, or whatever the hell she was...?" Julia narrowed her eyes, "There's no way in hell that Lisa is going to consider repairing any more of her relationship with House if she's still around."
"Oh ... uh, Dominika." Wilson nodded, making a face at the thought, "She left. I don't really know what her story was, but I guess she left around the time House went to jail. I don't know exactly where she is now, or what she's doing about her green card, because last time I checked, she never left the country." He let out a long sigh, "All the better for him, in reality. Keeping that fake marriage up would have taken a toll on all of us."
"No shit," Julia mumbled, "You should have seen Lisa when she came back from that thing. She looked worse than I'd ever seen her." She paused, not sure how much she should tell Wilson, "I was surprised she stayed around after that, to be quite honest with you. She was beyond hurt and pissed off at him."
"What's done is done." Wilson cut her off, not wanting to get into the debate over House and Cuddy's past history. He paused, hesitating, "Can we change the topic? It's not our business to muddle into their relationship, you know, before they even get back into one."
"What makes you think it's not our business James?" Julia snapped quickly, cutting him off, "You're well aware that this is my sister we're talking about. No matter what, I am always going to waiting for her to get hurt. Especially when I know exactly how her side of the fallout from hers and House's relationship ended last time." She paused, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I know you're just as concerned about the fallout as I am, and I know exactly what happens if they screw up again. You didn't see Lisa's side of the fallout, and it's not something I ever want to put her or Rachel through that again."
Wilson nodded, stuck between agreeing and uncertainty on what Julia was getting at, "I guess you do have a point there, and if House takes it as hard as he did last time, they're both going to be a mess." He paused, in thought, "I don't want them to deal with that kind of emotional turmoil again."
"Neither of us do," Julia stood and reached for a glass of water that she had abandon earlier, "And I don't think that either of them are going to let themselves screw that relationship up again." She tipped the glass back until the ice clinked against her teeth, her eyes meeting Wilson's, "But you're probably right, at least in some way, we need to wait until something happens in their relationship, or currently lack of one." The ice clinked again and she glanced down at the bottom of the Waterford glass, "Tell me, why the hell do you keep sticking around here? And by here, I mean put up with House all this time? If it were me, I never would have been able to deal with his antics the way both you and Lisa do."
"Who knows." Wilson gave a slightly noncommittal shrug, and he leaned back against the couch, looking up at Julia. "I guess I know what the fallout will be if I do end up walking away from him. You know, just as well as your sister and I do, that House is not the kind of guy who you want to end up lost and alone with a pile of negative emotions." He paused, "Not to mention any sort of drugs, medication or anything similar."
"True," Julia paused, dropping onto the opposite end of the couch, nodding a bit, "I know, well, last time, Lisa was scared to death that if she let House back into her life after he went back on the drugs, then it wouldn't be good for Rachel to be around. She's crazy about him, she always has been, and I know that if she knew she had control over House, as well as his habits, then she never would have left. Never." She bit her lip, hesitating as Wilson looked up at her, "I never knew Lisa's personality as as well as I thought I did until this past year or so, but that doesn't mean I haven't expected myself to learn about her."
"I never said that," Wilson began, eyeing Julia quietly, "I know both of them, and they both had problems in their relationship before. It just wasn't one thing either, I know that. But I also know that those problems aren't going to vanish, no matter how much time has gone by, and if they can't accept each other, then we're wasting our time."
"You mean that my sister is wasting House's time," Julia suggested, "We all blame her, hell, Lisa even blames herself for their relationship falling apart before. She wasn't thinking, and she knows that. She knows who House is, and something changed in those few months when she was with him, that for some reason, she couldn't accept the man she always knew." She stopped, seeing Wilson nod in agreement, "We're all right about that one, but none of us can change it."
"Then maybe we don't have to." Wilson stood, moving towards the door. "Maybe all we need to do is allow the both of them to realize that they can accept each other's faults and maintain a healthy relationship." He stopped, looking at Julia as he changed the topic, "Oh, and by the way, did you know both Cuddy and House are convinced that we're seeing each other?"
"I ... what? How ... since when?" Julia raised an eyebrow, more in shock that her sister would assume that she would jump back into a relationship only days after her and her ex husband's divorce had been finalized. "Why in the world do they think ... we're together?"
"Maybe because we're spending all our free time talking, mostly discussing them, but we're still spending all our free time talking." Wilson gave a shrug, "And not to mention the fact that you don't seem surprised to see me on your doorstep probably only helps their case." He headed towards the door, enjoying the stunned expression on Julia's face, "Don't worry, I told them that they're wrong about us."
AN: Whoa guys, I'm on a roll, in all honesty, part ten is almost half done already. But, because I like to keep a pattern, I most likely won't update until April 22nd. (I'd update Saturday night, but I'm going to see Daughtry and Safetysuit in concert so I'll be busy.)
Hope you enjoyed it!
Reena x
