A/N: Yeah, again it's been forever since I updated. I promise this fic has not been forgotten, nor will it be! I'm just a procrastinator of the highest degree.

"Dr. Wilson, what brings you here today?" Nolan asked enthusiastically. House shifted around in his chair and stared at his cane.

Wilson glanced at House. This was going to be harder than they thought. He answered the therapist carefully.

"Greg thought…that I might benefit from coming with him to one of his sessions."

Dr. Nolan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"

Wilson sighed. "My behavior in our relationship has been less than stellar," he admitted. "I guess I've acted pretty jealous. I think I need help."

"Help to do what, Dr. Wilson?"

Wilson drew in a deep breath. "Help to create a healthy relationship with House."

Wilson snuck a glance at House. The older man was still looking down, but the faintest trace of a smile could now be seen on his features.

Dr. Nolan looked at both Wilson and House. "What about your relationship do you believe isn't healthy?"

House finally spoke up. "He's been acting like a jealous five year old who can't have the toy he wants."

Wilson glared at House. Dr. Nolan noticed, but decided to hold back any comments for the time being.

"How do you think Dr. Wilson is acting jealous, Dr. House? In what ways?" Nolan leaned forward as if to indicate that he was listening.

House did not need much time to gather his thoughts. "He gets the wrong idea about things and jumps to conclusions. I met Erica for a medical consult, but Wilson gave me the cold shoulder. He thought there was something going on. If he doesn't know where I am, he gets all panicky. He wants me to call him and let him know if I'm not going to be home, and if I forget…." House trailed off, running out of steam.

"What happens if you forget?" Nolan prodded.

"…he gets mad," House finished weakly.

Nolan nodded. "Okay. What I want you to do now is tell Dr. Wilson exactly what you just told me – but address it to him, not me. I'll just be an invisible observer. Also, tell him how his actions make you feel. You know, 'When you act this way, I feel….'"

House looked at Wilson. "When you assume something's going on between Erica and I when there's nothing there, I feel like you don't trust me."

"Good," Nolan encouraged. "Dr. Wilson, I want you to reply to Dr. House and tell him how his statements and actions make you feel."

Wilson nodded to Nolan before telling House, "When you have secret conversations with Erica, I feel left out. And you're right – I don't trust you."

"They're not secret, Wilson!" House cried, exasperated. "For God's sake, you were right there. I had the whole conversation in front of you."

Wilson stiffened. "It's not that conversation I'm worried about. It's all the other ones."

"What other ones? What are you talking about?"

"If she can just call you up at any time like that, I know you must be talking to her on a regular basis. Admit it, House. You still have feelings for her."

Instead of responding, House looked at Nolan. "This is why Wilson came with me. What the hell am I supposed to say to that? You talk to him."

House sat back and crossed his arms, waiting expectantly. Dr. Nolan took up the gauntlet.

"Dr. Wilson, I think we've come down to the crux of the issue. Dr. House says he's not communicating with his ex-girlfriend, and you're sure that he is. What is it that is stopping you from trusting him?"

Wilson thought about it for a second. "I don't…know."

"Has Dr. House done anything in the past that tested your trust in him?"

Wilson laughed harshly. "All the time. He forged my name to get a prescription for Vicodin. He stole pills from one of my patients. One of my dead patients. Don't even get me started on all of the pranks he's pulled. I think a better question is, has House ever done anything to earn my trust?"

Nolan nodded again. "These are all very critical issues. Let me ask you a corollary to my original question: has Dr. House done any of these things in the past year, since being released from Mayfield?"

Wilson thought longer this time. "No…I guess he hasn't."

"Okay, so that might be a starting point for you. Let me ask you something else: you have known Dr. House a long time, and you've seen him in relationships before. Were you ever aware of him cheating during any of those relationships?"

"He's actually only had one serious relationship," replied Wilson without thinking. "With Stacy."

"And did he ever cheat on Stacy?"

"No, definitely not."

"Are you sure? How do you know?"

Wilson nodded. "I'm sure. I just…know. He would have told me. I would have found out."

"But surely he would have spoken with hundreds of other women over the span of that relationship. How do you know he didn't have a relationship with one of them?"

Wilson shook his head. "That's not like House. He's very loyal. He's very faithful."

Nolan said nothing, letting the silence speak from him. Understanding began to show in Wilson's eyes.

"I think I might have some trust issues," he whispered. He couldn't meet House's eyes.

House finally broke in. "We'll work through them, Wilson. We'll figure it out." Wilson couldn't believe how gentle the older man's tone was.

Dr. Nolan spoke up. "Dr. Wilson, let's revisit the original issue. Do you really think that Dr. House is having some sordid affair with his ex?"

Wilson shook his head. "No. No, of course he's not."

"So you're saying that the reason you don't trust Dr. House actually has nothing to do with any actions on his part, but is coming from somewhere else? And therefore, you were wrong to confront him with that accusation?"

Wilson nodded.

"There's something that people in healthy relationships do when they realize they have made a mistake in their actions. They apologize."

Wilson looked at House without hesitation. "House, I'm sorry I blew one phone call all out of proportion. And I'm sorry I froze you out. You did not deserve that."

House shrugged and looked away. "Whatever. It's fine."

Nolan and Wilson looked at each other, both noticing House's difficulty in accepting an apology. Wilson sat back in his chair, not sure what to think. Nolan decided to give him a break.

"Okay, Dr. Wilson's been in the hot seat long enough. Let's talk about you, Dr. House. Do you think you might have any trust issues as well?"

House thumped his cane on the floor and rolled his eyes. "Isn't our hour up? Maybe we should talk about this some other time."

Wilson's eyes flicked over to House. The older man was tense; his shoulders hunched and his hand gripping the cane so hard that the knuckles were white.

"It sounds like you already know the answer to my question, Dr. House," Nolan said gently.

House sighed and closed his eyes. "I have a hard time letting Wilson get close to me. Physically."

And emotionally, Wilson thought, but wisely kept it to himself.

"And is that because of something that Wilson has done?" Nolan asked.

"No," House said softly.

"So just like Wilson's difficulty in trusting you actually is not based on anything you did, your difficulty in trusting Wilson is not based on anything he did."

House nodded. He didn't know why, but just having that idea clearly articulated to Wilson gave him some sense of relief. It's what he had been trying to tell Wilson all along.

His relief was short-lived. Wilson spoke up. "I want to know what it is based on, House. I want to know how I can be close to you without setting you off. What can I do?"

House shook his head. "I don't know," he whispered.

~~~HW~~~HW~~~HW~~~HW~~~HW~~~

The two drove home in absolute silence. When they got home, the both collapsed on the couch, exhausted. Now Wilson understood why people thought therapy was tiring. Even though they had been sitting the whole time, it seemed as if they had exerted a day's worth of energy. And their session had raised as many questions and issues as it had resolved.

House clicked mindlessly on the remote control, changing the channel every thirty seconds or so. Wilson watched him just as mindlessly. Finally, the younger man began to talk.

"Well, I guess I'll be going to more of your sessions from now on. Or maybe I need my own with Nolan. Do you think I need extra time with him?"

House turned off the t.v. "You don't get extra credit for going more hours, Wilson."

Wilson sighed. "That's not what I meant. I just meant…I don't want to take up all of your time with Nolan when I clearly have lots of issues to work through, myself."

House snorted. "I have way more issues than you do."

"Is it a contest?"

House smiled. "It could be. Maybe we could even make some wagers…."

Wilson rolled his eyes and smiled, too. "I guess it's just going to take time."

"Yeah. Time." House clicked the power button and turned the t.v. back on. The two sat in awkward silence for several minutes, both pretending to watch Pawn Stars. Finally House threw down the remote.

"Screw this," he muttered. He reached for his own t-shirt and pulled it off. Before Wilson even realized what House was doing, the older man had his shoes and socks off and was fumbling with the zipper of his jeans. His hands were shaking. Wilson remembered how House couldn't even let him take a shirt off without running off. The younger man's eyes grew wide.

House stopped at his boxer-briefs, shivering. His naked shoulders felt cool, unprotected. It was not a feeling he enjoyed; his instinct was to cover up with clothes or huddle under a warm comforter. Even when he wasn't cold, he wanted to be covered with something. He had shed his physical layers of protection, and was lost without them. He pushed on anyway.

The t.v. still blaring in front of them. House gently grabbed Wilson's hand and guided it toward his own chest. Wilson looked into House's eyes and apparently found the confirmation he needed. He gently caressed House's chest, letting his hand drift over the fine hair. House shivered and closed his eyes. Tonight he was pushing himself farther with Wilson than he ever thought possible, and he wondered how far he could let things go before he totally shut down.

Wilson was wondering the same thing.