House returned to his office to bask in the afterglow. He didn't know why they hadn't started this sooner. It really was a great way to relief the stress of dealing with patients. House looked up at the clock. Oh, damn, he had clinic duty 20 minutes ago.

He knew that Cuddy was busy with her meeting, so he was in no rush, but he felt it would be rude to not at least make an appearance in the clinic. After all, she might revoke his new privileges if he didn't at least look like he was making an effort.

Wilson was working in the clinic when House arrived, so it wasn't going to be a total waste. "Hey." House headed over to Wilson. "Cuddy's got you in charge today?"

"Yeah, she had some important meeting or something. She was kind of vague." He looked down a list on the clipboard that Cuddy usually carried around.

House was smiling wide. He was dying to tell Wilson all the lurid details of his afternoon delight. Of course Cuddy would be furious, but she knew House well enough to know that he would go bragging to Wilson as soon as the opportunity arose.

Wilson looked at him suspiciously. "What are you smiling at?"

He grabbed Wilson by the sleeve and pulled him into an empty exam room. "House, it's all well and good for you to avoid clinic duty, Cuddy would never do anything to you." House's smile grew at the thought of what Cuddy might do to him. "But I'm the responsible one, remember." Wilson finally thought he knew why House was smiling. "House, you didn't?"

"Oh yes I did." House's cheeks hurt from smiling. "A few minutes ago, as a matter of fact."

"Here?" Wilson couldn't believe his ears.

"Not here in the clinic, no." House was enjoying the look of aggravated anticipation on Wilson's face. "In her office."

"House, you are playing with fire. You know that?" Wilson was worried that his friend was taking this far too lightly. After telling House that Cuddy has feelings for him, Wilson thought his friend might back off a little. Instead he has sex with her at work. No good could come of this.

"Look, we are consenting adults; very compatible consenting adults. What's wrong with blowing off a little steam?" House leaned against one of the tables trying to look as casual as possible.

"She is in love with you House! She's your boss, and you are using her. How do you think this is going to end?" Wilson couldn't believe the sheer ignorance House was currently showing.

"I don't think I want it to end. It's really quite nice." He was reminiscing in his mind. It was quite nice indeed.

"House!" Wilson was getting annoyed. They were both his friends, and he didn't want either of them getting hurt. He knew what could happen here, and it wasn't good. "I am trying to have a serious conversation with you. Could you just pretend to care about the feelings of another human being for like five minutes?"

"I do care about her." He didn't mean to say it. It was one of those things you let slip because you are talking to your best friend and have temporarily let your guard down. He quickly scrambled to cover his mistake. "Gotta keep her happy or she'll cut off my access to the funbags."

Wilson saw straight through House's sad attempt to cover the truth. He smiled to himself. What a funny little world this was. House and Cuddy had known each other since they were all residents together. It was a long time. They had been best friends, the three of them. Cuddy and House even had a brief fling back then, but Wilson thought that was long over.

Now here they were, back where they started. Wilson would once again have to try to get the two most stubborn people he knew to admit to each other that they had feelings. It wasn't going to be easy, and he wouldn't do it for anyone else, but for his oldest and dearest friends, he had to give it a try. Besides, he was a hopeless romantic, and there was nothing more romantic than rekindling an old love.

"Have you told her?"

"That I like her funbags? I think she knows." House was totally avoiding the real question.

"That you care about her." Wilson was pushing it back in his face. Avoid that!

"I'd better get to work. If Cuddy sees me blowing off clinic duty she might get mad." He said the last word playfully, but Wilson got the hint. House wasn't ready to talk.

"I'll send your first case in." Wilson looked down at the clipboard to confirm he had someone waiting. He grabbed the door handle and turned to House for a final thought. "And I'll talk to you later." It came out sounding like a threat, and House knew it was.

On the other side of the door, Stacy straightened herself out, and hurried away. So, House and Cuddy are back together. The whole time Stacy was pouring her heart out to her friend, Cuddy was already screwing around with House. Well, Stacy wasn't about to give up a good fight.