A/N: WARNING for some slight violence.

House awoke to the smell of something wonderful wafting in from the kitchen. Without opening his eyes, he inhaled deeply. Banana bread. Somebody was baking banana bread in their kitchen.

He rolled over until his legs were on the edge of the bed, then swung them down to the floor. Babying his right leg, he limped out to the kitchen. He was right. Wilson was in the kitchen, holding a steaming loaf of banana bread. From the looks of it, there were even chocolate chips in it.

House collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs, and a mug of coffee was placed in front of his nose.

"You're a godsend," House muttered as he wrapped both hands around the mug.

Wilson smiled, even though he knew House wasn't looking. He sliced off a piece of banana bread for each of them, and plopped the bread onto two plates. He slid one down to House and began to pick at his own. "Case finally solved?" he asked casually.

House nodded. He wanted to ask Wilson about his bed linens, but had no idea how to bring something like that up. Hey, Wilson, did you invade my room to wash my sheets? Or am I inventing fantasies about my best friend that have to do with him in my bed? No, there didn't seem to be a good way to ask. Instead, he shoved a huge chunk of banana bread into his mouth and chewed happily.

"Is it good?" asked Wilson. House nodded vigorously.

"You going in today?"

House thought about it. He had caught up on a lot of sleep last night, so there was no reason not to go in this morning. He had nothing else to do. "Might as well," he said, shrugging.

"You want a ride in?"

House hesitated. He didn't want to have to bother Wilson for a ride back home again at the end of the day. Also, he hadn't seen Erica in almost a week, and he thought he might want to go straight to her place from work.

"That's...okay. I think I'll take the bike."

Wilson shrugged. "Okay, well, I guess I'll see you there. I'm going to get going."

House watched as Wilson rinsed off the coffee pot, and winced as he slammed it into the dish rack. Was Wilson upset that he had said no to his offer? House pretended to sip his coffee, but kept one eye on Wilson as he stalked out of the kitchen. A minute later, he heard the front door slam. House waited a few minutes to give Wilson a head start, then got up himself. He left his coffee mug on the table, still half-full, and headed outside for his bike. He had no idea how to fix things with Wilson. He didn't even completely understand what was broken.

Erica sounded very understanding when House spoke to her on the phone from his office. He guessed that maybe she still felt guilty for dumping the kids on her, and was letting him get away with a few things. He wondered how much he could work the guilt for. He arranged to pick Erica up after work so they could grab dinner, and spent the rest of his day thinking of ways that Erica might be able to repay him for his extreme generosity of last weekend. He left work with a huge grin.

Erica answered the door almost right after he rung the bell. She was still wearing her work clothes, which House actually thought made her look totally hot. He liked the way her pants suit framed her butt.

He smiled. "Ready to go?"

She nodded. "So where did you have in mind?"

House shrugged. "I just want something to eat. I figured I'd let you work out the details."

Erica thought for a moment as the two made their way down the hall. "How do you feel about Thai food?"

House's eyes lit up. "Love it, why?"

"I know the perfect place. I'll drive."

House was about to protest, but then realized that he had come on his bike. Also, the last time he drove, he had threatened to leave Erica behind at their date. He thought she might be trying to avoid a repeat of that ugly situation. He almost felt bad about it, but not enough to bring it up. He just followed her lead, and let himself catch a few glimpses of her ass as she walked to her car.

The restaurant was a little hole in the wall, but they did not skimp on the spices. House actually thought his tongue might start emitting smoke at any second. The endorphin rush was phenomenal. Trying to remember what his mother had taught him about how to conduct himself on a date, he decided to try asking about Erica's week.

"It's actually been nice and smooth, compared to the disaster of a weekend I had. Once that crisis resolved, everything's been quiet. How about your week?"

House swallowed his chicken. "Had a pretty intense case. Actually didn't leave the office for a few days. But it's over now. The guy's getting better."

Erica looked impressed. "Wow. That's some dedication. You actually slept there?"

"When I could. If the patient wasn't dying at the moment." House was bragging a bit, but he also knew he was telling the complete truth. It just happened to be a truth that made him look good, for once.

"You know, the hospital is lucky to have a doctor like you. But I guess people don't get sick on a nine to five schedule, do they?"

House shook his head. "I guess finances don't...get sick...on a nine to five schedule, either." He still had very little idea of what it was that Erica actually did.

She laughed. "It's a good thing neither of us has kids. We'd probably have to put them in a kennel. But you really did a great job on Saturday."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I talked to the kids and their mom yesterday. Apparently they were all very happy when they got home. Benjie wants to be a doctor now when he grows up. Well, either that or a cowboy. But he was very impressed by you."

House tried to stop himself from blushing. He didn't think spending three hours with the kid would have such an impact.

Erica noticed, but didn't draw attention to it. "Even Alex really liked you."

At this, House laughed. "How could anyone tell?"

"Oh, he talks. It just takes him a very long time to open up to a person. But he told his foster mom that he liked you because you let him be, didn't try to push him past his limits. And you didn't forget about him either. Nice balancing act."

Huh. Well, that kind of made sense. And House was glad to hear that Alex's impression of him was on the positive side. He was much more used to hearing negative things about himself.

"You're just trying to sucker me in to babysitting again, aren't you?"

Erica's eyes twinkled. "You've discovered my devious plot!"

House laughed and speared a piece of Erica's tofu from her plate.

"Hey!" She smacked his hand lightly. House chewed defiantly, tasting the sweet coconut milk, his eyes daring her to do anything.

"I thought I was safe ordering tofu," she said. "No guy likes tofu, I thought. But you're not just any guy, are you?"

House didn't know how to reply. He fidgeted uncomfortably, then looked down at his own plate. He shoved another piece of chicken in his mouth so that he didn't have to answer.

It was late when House unlocked the door to his condo. He had taken Erica out for a drink after dinner (or rather, she had taken him), and the two had been enjoying themselves so much that they had both lost track of time. Then they decided to order some coffee and sit for a while talking while the coffee kicked in. Erica had decided that she was okay to drive, and had finally taken them back to her place at around eleven. He had given her a quick goodbye kiss, then hopped on his bike and headed for home.

When he walked in, the condo was dark. He flipped the light switch, and was startled to see Wilson sitting on the couch, staring into space. He looked mad.

"Hey, Wilson," House said softly. He dropped his keys onto the table next to the door, and leaned his cane against the wall.

"Where the hell have you been?" Wilson's tone was clipped.

"I was just out with Erica for a while. Why?"

"You didn't think to call? To let me know before you left? I had no idea where you were."

House was totally lost. "I...didn't know I needed to call and ask your permission before taking Erica out on a date." He saw Wilson's expression and decided to back off a bit. "Sorry."

Wilson got up from the couch and walked toward House. "You didn't think I would worry? You could have been anywhere. You could have been hurt. I need to know where you are, House."

House had no idea what was bringing this on all of a sudden. In his younger years, he had shown up at Wilson's place at three a.m., staggering drunk, and Wilson had never asked where he had been – or appeared to care. Now he was just coming home from a fairly tame date. He wasn't drunk, and it wasn't even midnight yet.

"Sorry. I guess I'll call you next time to check in?" House really couldn't figure out what Wilson wanted.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Wilson screamed. "I've been sitting here for hours, picturing the worst, wondering when it would be too early to call the police, going through a mental list of possible caskets...and the whole time you were just out with that hussy."

House stiffened. That was kind of uncalled for. Wilson was mad at him, not Erica, so why bring her into this. Or was that the problem?

"Are you jealous? Is that what this is about? Sorry, next time I'll invite you along. We can have a threesome."

Wilson's eyes flashed, and he stormed toward House. House backed up into the front door, but had nowhere else to go. He watched Wilson advance toward him, and immediately regretted saying anything. Now there was no way to de-escalate Wilson. House saw Wilson's arm raise as he got within swinging distance of House, and had the strong urge to bring his own arms up in defense. He willed his arms to stay down, clenching his hands into fists to keep them from coming into contact with Wilson. Whatever happened, he didn't want to hurt Wilson any more than he had already. He closed his eyes and tensed up, waiting for the blow.

It never came; instead, he heard a loud thud next to his head. He opened his eyes. Wilson had punched the wall next to the door, and was now holding his injured hand, looking at House in shock.

House kept his eyes on the ground. Wilson stared at House, making him even more uncomfortable. House didn't know what do say or do.

"Well, if we're done playing 'Pin The Fist On The Cripple,' I guess I'll be heading to bed," House spit out, trying to make his tone sound light. It didn't. His voice shook, and his eyes darted nervously around.

Wilson stepped back to let House pass, and House slowly moved toward his bedroom. He turned away from Wilson as soon as he could. He didn't want Wilson to notice his shaking hands.

It didn't matter. Wilson was still staring at the slight indentation he had created in the drywall. What had just happened? He heard House's door gently snick shut, but didn't move from his spot next to the wall. It was only when his hand began to throb intensely several minutes later that Wilson moved, dazedly walking to the kitchen to find some ice.