Wilson was up and gone early the next morning. House slowly eased awake, happily snuggled in his sheets and comforter. He was enjoying the feeling of softness and staring at the ceiling, delaying the onset of the day for as long as possible.

Finally, he swung his legs slowly out of bed and hobbled to the shower. At that point, he remembered everything that had taken place yesterday, and sighed. He and Wilson needed to work this thing out, and soon. House couldn't take much more of these hot-and-cold oscillations, filled with jealousy at every turn. He couldn't truly understand the jealousy anyway – it wasn't as if he was such a great catch. He had no idea what Wilson saw in him.

He went to work and didn't even go near his office. He knew they had no case, and he wanted to knock out as many peds hours as possible while he had the chance. It was a slow, quiet day in the ward, but he stayed until Nurse Begay finally kicked him out. Signing out, he figured it was almost lunch time, so he went straight to the cafeteria.

As he ate his dry Reuben, he finally admitted to himself that he was avoiding his office because he was avoiding Wilson. But he still hadn't received any pages from his team, so he figured there was really no need to check in on the fourth floor. He pushed his sandwich aside and stared at the other people eating. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten lunch in this cafeteria with somebody other than Wilson. He had frequently eaten alone, simply due to schedules and tough cases. But if they both had the time, he and Wilson always ate together.

Ever since this whole thing with Wilson had started, House had not had time to stop and think about how things in his life might change. If he and Wilson never worked out romantically, would they be able to go back to being friends? House didn't think he could stand to lose the one friendship in his life that was actually meaningful. Would Wilson be okay just being friends, now that Pandora's box had been opened? Or what if this thing actually did work out? Would Wilson be able to drop the jealousy to at least a tolerable level? Or maybe the younger man was actually being quite reasonable – maybe House shouldn't be talking to other people in what could be perceived as a flirtatious manner. House needed to talk these details out with somebody. The problem was, the one person he actually trusted to talk things over with was Wilson – and for obvious reasons, he couldn't talk to him.

When House showed up at her office with a salad and bottle of water from the cafeteria, Cuddy was shocked.

"How did you know I hadn't had lunch yet?" she asked.

House shrugged. "I figured you could always stick it in the fridge if you didn't want it right now."

Cuddy laughed. "To what do I owe this gift, House?"

He awkwardly sat down. "I, uh...need some advice."

Cuddy opened her salad and speared a piece of lettuce. "What's going on?"

House took a deep breath. "I don't know if you've heard, but Wilson and I are...seeing each other now."

Cuddy nearly choked. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

House looked down, unsure how to answer. Cuddy took in his defeated posture and gasped. "You're actually serious?"

House nodded slightly.

"When did this happen?"

"It's...been going on for a while. When I was dating Erica, he was...well, he was doing things that I later realized were because he was jealous. He was actually the reason we broke up. And we've been seeing each other ever since. But..."

Cuddy finally saw the big picture. "And you usually get your advice from Wilson, but now you need advice about Wilson."

House was relieved that she had caught on so quickly. "Yeah."

"Okay. So what's the problem?"

House put his head down onto the handle of his cane. "It's just that...Wilson gets really jealous. When I was with Erica, he was always trying to split us apart. But now that we're broken up, if I even talk to her, he gets all hot and bothered. Or if I go out somewhere and he doesn't know where I am...he gets mad. I just don't know...what I should do. Or is that normal?"

Cuddy's eyes widened. "Normal? What on earth would make you think that?"

House shrugged. "I don't know. My dad was sort of the same way. He wanted to know where my mom was all the time. One time she wanted to join a ladies' bridge club, but he wouldn't let her, because he thought she might be using it as an excuse to have an affair. But she went along with all of it – never said anything, so..."

Cuddy wasn't sure whether she should say what she was thinking. Treading carefully, she asked, "Did your mom just go along with it, or did she actually agree with it?"

House thought about it. "I don't know. I...I thought she agreed with him on everything. I mean, she seemed to agree with him about all the stuff he did to me..."

Cuddy put down her fork. "What stuff do you mean, House?"

Realizing his slip, House quickly tried to gloss over the subject. "Just...the way he chose to discipline me. She went along with it. Maybe she didn't agree; I don't know?"

"What do you think would have happened if she had disagreed or not gone along?"

House shuddered. "I don't know."

"But would your father have been okay with it?"

"No," he said shortly. There was clearly something he was holding back, but Cuddy didn't push.

"Okay. So do you think that was a healthy way for them to live? Do you think they had a good relationship?"

"They...had a long relationship."

"But was it healthy?"

House shook his head.

"Then why would you want to enter into the same kind of relationship with Wilson?"

"Because...because I love him," House whispered.

Cuddy was taken aback. This thing that she hadn't even been aware of until today must be deeper than she had guessed. But definitely not healthy. "If you love him, you need to let him know how you feel, and what your boundaries are. If he loves you, he'll respect that. He'll respect you. And you can build the kind of relationship that you deserve."

Boundaries. That's exactly what Dr. Nolan had told him. And the one time he had tried to assert those boundaries to Wilson, it had worked! Maybe there was something to that. "Thanks," he told Cuddy softly. "This has helped."

Cuddy could help repeating herself. "You really do deserve to be happy, House. Truly."

House nodded, brushing her off. "I'll talk to him."

As House left, Cuddy sighed. When would that man learn to look out for himself?

House waited until they were both at home after work. He didn't make any preparations; no dinner, flowers, special arrangements. He just ambushed Wilson as he walked through the door.

"Wilson, Can we please talk?"

Something about House's tone made Wilson stop. He reluctantly sat on the couch with House. "Say what you're gonna say," he challenged. "I've got things to do."

For the second time that day, House took a deep breath. "You...you've been wanting to know what that thing in the shower was all about."

Wilson's eyes flicked up. Now he was interested.

House tried to continue. "When I was growing up, my dad had...his own ideas about...how things should be. He didn't allow me to get away with doing anything wrong. He would..." House's jaw clenched. "He would discipline me. I'm sure I deserved it," he quickly added, "but sometimes, it all comes back. I'll have nightmares...or...like that time in the shower..."

"So it was a flashback!" Wilson exclaimed. House nodded.

"Yeah. And...my mom never did anything about it. I had a talk with somebody today. About us. I realized that some of the ways my dad treated my mom are the same things that you do to me. What I realized today is that I think she was scared. Of him. Too scared to do anything but agree, and go along. And...I don't want to feel scared of you. That's not the relationship I want," House said, mimicking Cuddy's words.

Wilson was very quiet. When he finally spoke, his voice shook a little. "That's not the relationship I want, either. What kinds of things have I done that are...like him?"

House cleared his throat. "The way you...your need to...to control my every move. Who I'm with, when I go out...you just get so jealous, Wilson, and so did he. I have to be allowed to be my own person."

Wilson nodded. "House...before, when you say you deserved it...what kinds of things are we talking about?"

Now House was quiet. Shaking his head, he said, "It's nothing. I know I'm just overreacting."

"I don't care. I need to know." Wilson looked into House's eyes with such compassion that House couldn't keep it inside anymore. He sighed.

"One time...I had to take a bath in ice." House stopped talking in order to gauge Wilson's reaction. He knew that the ice bath was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, but his willingness to reveal anything further would depend on Wilson's reaction.

"As a punishment? Or were you sick?" Wilson asked, incredulous.

House sighed again. "I had 'run my smart mouth' in front of his buddies at the 4th of July barbeque. He was mad that I had embarrassed him, so he took all of the leftover ice and brought it inside the house..."

Wilson gaped at House. "And you think that you deserved this?"

House shrugged. "I should have stayed quiet."

Wilson shook his head. "What else?"

"Just...your ordinary run-of-the-mill punishments. Let's say I was well-acquainted with his belt. And some...other stuff, too."

"Like what?"

House closed his eyes. "I...can we talk about this some other time? I really wanted to talk about us tonight."

Wilson began to process everything. If this was overwhelming for him, it must be nearly impossible for House to talk about.. "Of course. House..."

"Yeah?"

"Do I really remind you of your father?"

House looked down. "Sometimes. Yes," he admitted.

Wilson couldn't stand it. "Then...that needs to change. Maybe I need help."

House felt relief flow through him. Tension he wasn't eve aware he was carrying melted away. "Maybe...maybe you could come with me to see Dr. Nolan?" he suggested cautiously.

Wilson nodded. "Okay. Let's do that."

House almost smiled. "Thanks. It really means a lot."

Just two years ago, House would have scoffed at the idea of therapy. Now he was glad Wilson was going to come with him? The man really was changing. Wilson hoped he could change for the better, too.

"House...is there anything else you want to tell me?" he asked gently.

"Yes," House replied, looking into Wilson's eyes with such intensity that Wilson had to blink. Then the older man walked into his room and shut the door.