Wilson was watching the clock, counting the minutes till lunch. What would they talk about? Would it be awkward? He couldn't stand the anticipation. He wanted to get it over with, not in a bad way, like you want to get over with taking a spoon full of bad medicine, but over it the way you want a job interview over because you can feel your palms sweating, and your whole body shaking, and you just want the job so you can settle in and get to work.

Time seemed to have stopped. The clock was tormenting him now, the hands barely moving at all along their path to noon. Wilson couldn't stand it any more. He had to do something. He couldn't concentrate on work at all.

He tried reading, he tried a crossword puzzle. Finally he decided to go down and see House. It was risky, what if he was with the Ducklings, he'd see Cameron there, with House. In the end, though, he decided to risk it.

Wilson peeked his head into House's office, and was relieved to find it unoccupied safe for the reclining figure on the sofa. It was House taking his early morning Game Boy break. "Hey." Wilson came in and sat down on the sofa, after pushing House's legs off one end.

"Ouch!" House said it in such a way that Wilson knew he hadn't been hurt, he was just trying to make a point. The point seemed to be, don't push my legs off my couch or you'd be sorry.

"Sorry." House knew he didn't mean it, but then again, House hadn't really meant the ouch. They were just breaking each others balls.

"I asked Cameron to lunch." There was no point making small talk with House. He would only draw it out until the whole purpose of the visit was forgotten.

"That's nice. Remember to get her home by 1pm." House smiled. He was glad Wilson was now able to talk to him about this. He would never admit it, but he was happy for Wilson. Cameron was perfect for him. House was still concerned about the intentions of them both, but he had decided to try and step aside and be happy for them. That was what friends do, wasn't it?

"Yes dad." He knew that would sting. House wasn't all that much older than he was, but Wilson never turned down a chance to remind House that he was, indeed, the older one.

House pretended he was going to throw his Game Boy at him, but Wilson knew House would never do anything to hurt his precious Game Boy, so he wasn't all that scared. "What can I talk to her about?"

"You're asking ME for advice on how to talk to women? You've officially lost your mind." House was the first to admit that he was no expert with women. He really had a hard time talking to anybody.

"I just thought, well, you know her. I thought you might have some idea what she'd like to talk about. What she's interested in. That sort of thing."

"She likes to talk about her feelings, and your feelings and the feelings of the world in general. Tell her you like her. She'll eat it up."

"I'm being serious House."

"So am I." House looked at Wilson, who looked like he was ready to walk out. "Well, sort of. Just be honest with her. Tell her how you feel, then she'll tell you how she feels, then you will get married and have lots of little Wilson's running around. Just remember to name one Greg, OK."

"I don't know why I bothered asking you anything." House didn't bother to respond, so Wilson got up and left. It was almost noon, and time for lunch. He realized he hadn't told Cameron where to meet him, so he headed to her office. Hopefully she would be there. She wasn't.

He went back to his office. Still no Cameron. Where had she gone? He picked up his cell phone and called her. "Hi, James, is that you? Where are you? I'm at the diner." Wilson stared at nothing. Did he say he'd meet her there? Damn. "I'll be right there, Allison. I just had to finish up with a patient." Great, now their date would be built on a lie. Good going Wilson.

By the time he reached the diner, Cameron had already ordered them both something to drink. "I hope you like lemonade." She had ordered them both a large glass of it. "It is their specialty, fresh squeezed."

"I know." He was glad she had taken the liberty. "I come here all the time just for the lemonade" Man he sounded lame. This was worse than a blind date.

"How is your patient?" She asked innocently.

"What?" Wilson was momentarily confused.

"The patient you were with when you called?"

"Oh." He had to come clean. "I wasn't with a patient. I was with House and I lost track of time."

She laughed lightly. She'd known all along. He felt like such an idiot. "I Know, House called to let me know you would be late." She regretted it as soon as she said it. He looked a bit annoyed.

The waitress arrived just in time. "May I take your order?" She was chewing a piece of gum that hung out of her mouth as she spoke. Her weight was shifted onto one leg. She was the stereotypical diner waitress. Wilson had to suppress a laugh. House would have loved her.

Cameron ordered first. "I'll have an oriental chicken salad, dressing on the side, and a fruit cup." Wilson winced. He shouldn't have suggested the diner. He should have known she only ate healthy foods.

He thought for a moment about trying to impress her with a salad order, but he caught a whiff of frying beef and he had to go with a cheeseburger and fries. He smiled at Cameron. "Hope you don't mind. You're not a vegetarian are you?" It was an after thought. Oh no, he thought. She probably is. The idea of eating animals probably makes her sick.

"No. It's just, Angie up in the nursery had a birthday party this morning, and I had a big piece of cake just before I came here. I know I shouldn't have, but I just couldn't resist."

"Hey, why didn't I know about the birthday party?" Wilson mocked feeling slighted.

Cameron looked slightly embarrassed. "You kind of have something of a reputation up there. The nurses think you're a…a bit too friendly."

"They think I'm a slut." Wilson corrected her.

She laughed. "A man slut was the exact term, but yeah."

"And you're OK being seen in public with a man slut?" He asked it casually, but it really was concerning him. He did have a reputation of being something of a playboy, and he had three ex-wives who would back up the story.

"I'm fine with it if you're fine with being seen in public with the black widow." She was trying to make light of her own past marriage. She really hadn't been able to think of any other way to bring it up.

"Black widow?" He couldn't help it. He was curious.

"That's what his family called me. The Black Widow. They blamed me for his dying."

"How is that even possible? I thought he died of cancer."

"He did."

"They thought you gave him cancer?"

"No, but they thought I made him stop fighting it."

Wilson felt his heart go out to this poor girl. She was not yet 30 years old, yet she had married a dying man, watched him die, and bore the brunt of his family's hatred. He couldn't imagine what she'd been through. "I know you, Allison; you wouldn't have let him give up."

"But I did." This surprised Wilson. Cameron was always the one to give patients hope. He remembered when the babies where dying, she couldn't bring herself to take away the hope of those two mothers. There was no way Cameron would have told her husband to give up. No way. He didn't say any of this, so Cameron decided to keep going. "He was not going to make it. No amount of hope was going to save him. I knew this. My medical training took away any comfort I could find in hoping he would live. I couldn't lie to him. I couldn't sit there, watching him die, and tell him that anything he did would make a difference. I knew it wouldn't, and I loved him enough to not lie to him."

She was sobbing a little, and Wilson held out a napkin. He wished he'd had tissues, but that was something his wife always carried. He never had to worry about stuff like that. She pushed the napkin away and dug into her purse. She pulled out a tissue. "I'm sorry." She was apologizing for her tears.

"Don't be, Allison. It's OK. You don't have to tell me anything."

The food had just arrived, and the waitress slid their plates in front of them. She looked curiously at Cameron, who was wiping her eyes with the tissue, but she decided it was none of her business and she walked away.

"No, James." She pushed her plate aside and laid her hand on his. "I want you to know. It actually feels like a relief to talk about it. I haven't told anyone before."

Wilson couldn't help but feel a little burst of joy at being the one she would confide in. But he suppressed it, not wanting her to get the wrong idea.

She went on. "They said I was trying to get him to die. That I wanted their money." She saw he hadn't made the connection, so she explained. "They were very wealthy. We were in school together. I was on scholarship, he was on a trust fund. He proposed to me long before he knew he was sick, but I said no. I didn't want his family to think I was a gold digger. You know?" She looked at him for support, and he willingly gave it. He squeezed her hand gently. "So I said no. But when I found out he was dying, well, he told me his dying wish was to marry me. How could I turn him down then? I mean, I did love him, and I wanted to marry him. I just…"

"I know." Wilson thought he knew. Regardless, he just wanted her to know he was listening and he was there for her.

That seemed to end the conversation. His burger was getting cold, and she didn't want to keep him from eating. It had felt good to tell someone she trusted about her late husband. It was a secret she'd kept from her family, not that she'd married him, they were bound to notice that, but that his family had given her such a hard time. She didn't think her parents could deal with that, so she protected them from it.

They ate in silence for a while. Wilson desperately wanted to lighten the mood, but he didn't want to come across as not caring about what she'd just revealed to him. He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing.

When they were done eating, they had started talking again, about little, inoffensive things, weather, the news, what was going on at work, nothing too light or too heavy, just stuff. She took his hand as they walked back to the hospital. It was only a few blocks away, and neither of them had wanted the hassle of getting their car out of the lot, and finding parking near the diner.

He was glad he'd walked. It was giving him a chance to be with her a little longer. He wanted to hold her, to let her cry on his shoulder, but that would be too presumptuous. They weren't at that level yet, so he contented himself with holding her hand, and giving her a little hug in the hall as they went their separate ways, back to their lonely offices.

Somewhere along the walk, Wilson had realized he'd set up a date with her for Friday night. It wasn't an innocent little lunch date. It was a real date. They had gone on a real date before, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had changed since then.

She had suggested making it a double date. This intrigued him. He asked her why, who with? She suggested a double date with House and Stacy. Wilson looked at her like she had too heads. She explained that it was obvious House still had feelings for his ex, and this would be a chance not only for him to explore those feelings, but for her, Cameron, to prove to him, Wilson, that they could socialize with House without all the complications Wilson feared.

Wilson's head was spinning. He'd said yes. He'd agreed to go out on a double date with Cameron and House and Stacy. He was not looking forward to bringing this up with House. No matter what Cameron seemed to think, House was not going to go on a date with Stacy. Cameron seemed to forget all about Stacy's sick husband. What was that girl thinking?

He walked to House's office in a daze. Better get this over with. House looked up. "How was your date?" It was a casual inquiry, made without lifting his head from the magazine he was reading.

"Good. Look, House. Allison has this idea." Oh, boy, why was she making him tell House? Why had he agreed to? "She wants us all to go on a double date." Please don't ask who us all is.

"OK, well, I count three people, or am I supposed to bring my blow up doll?" It wasn't exactly asking who, but it was House's way of asking who.

"Allison thought that maybe you could ask Stacy." Wilson visibly ducked out of the way, but the magazine was pushed onto the desk instead of thrown over his head, so he straightened up.

"Is she out of her mind? Why the hell would I want to go on a date with Stacy?" House was pissed.

"She thinks you still have feelings for Stacy." Wilson was hoping someone, anyone, would walk through the door and interrupt them.

"She would. I am NOT going on a date with my happily married ex-girlfriend who's dying husband I am supposed to save."

It was a little late, but the interruption Wilson was hoping for finally came. "What's all the yelling about?" It was Cuddy. She looked down at the two sitting men with her usual suspicion.

"Cuddy, you are coming to dinner with Wilson and Cameron and me." House practically barked the order. "When is it Wilson?"

Wilson was too stunned to answer. This was highly unexpected. Cuddy seemed equally stunned. She stammered a little and finally got her words out. "What are you talking about?"

"Wilson?" House snapped.

"Uh, It's this Friday. 8pm." He was looking from House to Cuddy.

House was looking directly at Cuddy. "We will leave from here." He went back to reading his magazine.

She was looking at him. This was not what she'd expected. "Dr. Wilson. Can I talk to you a minute?" Wilson followed her out. "What was that about?"

"Allison, Dr. Cameron wanted us to go on a double date with House and Stacy. He refused, then you came in. You know the rest."

"A double date? Are you insane?"

"Technically it would be Dr. Cameron who's insane, or at least, it's her crazy idea."

"Don't you mean, Allison?" She said the name in that way little girls will say the name of the boy their best friend really likes, all sugar and syrup. "So, you two are working things out?"

"Trying. She thinks this would be a good chance to show me she is over House or something. I think she's a hopeless romantic who thinks House and Stacy can rekindle some flame."

"Stacy is married." Cuddy wasn't liking this one bit.

"Never stopped me." Wilson joked.

"Good point. Well, where are we going?"

"You're coming?" Wilson really thought she would laugh the whole thing off. House was obviously just venting in his own Housey way. Wilson hadn't thought for a second he meant to take Cuddy on the date.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world." She smiled at him. He knew that anything that made House squirm was enough to get Cuddy to participate.

"I thought we could go to Chez Madeline. Of course, when I thought that, it was just me and Cameron going."

"Chez Madeline? Very romantic. This is going to be fun." She turned on her heels and walked away. Wilson thought he detected a spring in her step. He was dreading this date more and more.