She wore the earrings for the rest of the evening, even going so far as to pin her hair up so she could see the gems glitter in various reflections. A beautiful surprise gift from a man who wasn't big on gifts, giving or receiving. A pair of earrings now…perhaps a diamond ring later? No, no, she thought, don't get your hopes up. House loved her, she knew that well enough, but marriage was not in the foreseeable future, or forseeable at all. Let him move in and settle down for a while, then see what happens. In the meantime she would appreciate the earrings for what they were--a thoughtful gesture.

It was the middle of the night and she was wrapped in his arms, safe and sound. Much to her relief the hall light was on; combined with House's presence in the bed it made her all the more calm. House had drifted off to sleep an hour ago, but Cuddy was still going through her mental list of things to do in the coming days. The earrings were off now, back in their box and the box was tucked away in her purse. Tomorrow morning she would have to look her schedule to see when she and House could take up Goren's dinner invitation. Gas prices and nyctophobia be damned, they all deserved a nice night out in good company. The coming Saturday night was most likely free but she needed to double check and make sure all her bases were covered. And there was a gorgeous red silk blouse at Nordstrom's that would great with her new earrings.

"Earrings?" Wilson asked, sounding skeptical.

"Yup," House said as he relaxed on the sofa in Wilson's office. The oncologist didn't know the whole story about Cuddy's battle with nyctophobia, and because House was afraid that Wilson would inadvertently blab it around, he wasn't going to fill him on it just yet. At there was a 50 mile buffer zone between them and Goren most of the time. Wilson and Cuddy saw each other nearly every day. If she wanted Wilson to know all about her condition she could tell him herself.

"Diamonds and rubies?"

"Yup. All nice and sparkly. Women love sparklies."

"Are said sparklies real?"

"Of course they're fucking real!" House shot his friend warning glare. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to buy her junk jewelry? I like my testicles where they are, thank you."

Wilson grinned as he put a label on a new patient file. "Since when does Gregory House buy expensive presents for anyone?" the oncologist asked.

"Since he knows he has a good thing with Lisa Cuddy and he better not fuck it up."

"Since when does Gregory House talk about himself in third person?"

"Since his douchebag best friend asked him stupid questions like he was talking to someone else."

As he made sure all the paperwork was in order, Wilson said, "Well, I have to say it's good that you realize that you have a good thing with her."

"Damn right I do," House muttered, almost to himself.

"What did she say when you gave them to her?"

"She went on and on about how beautiful they were, how she wasn't expecting it, things like that." The diagnostician grinned.

"Anything else?"

"Well, later she screamed 'Yes! Yes! Oh, Greg!' loud enough to be heard down the block, but I don't think that anything to do with the earrings."

"Me neither," Wilson said with a roll of his eyes.

"Bobby is having a little get-together at his place this Saturday and wants to know if you can tag along. Interested?" House said.

"This Saturday?"

"That's what I said. Would you like me to use semaphore flags to convey that concept to you?"

"You don't have to. I can't make it," Wilson answered with a trace of regret. "I have a thirteen-year-old patient flying in that day and I want to make sure I dot all the i's and cross all the t's. Send Bobby and Alex my regards."

"Can't your patient fly in on Sunday?"

"House--"

"I'm joking. See, I got laid last night and therefore I'm in a pretty good mood right now."

"You don't say," Wilson replied dryly, suddenly engrossed in his stupefying files.

House smirked at his friend, knowing the real reason behind Wilson's badly feigned disinterest. "Spoken like a man who hasn't had any in a good, long time. That's alright, Jimmy. I understand. I'll leave you and your right hand alone for a while."

House got up and quietly left Wilson's office. As soon as the door was shut he heard Wilson bang his head on his desk.