A/N: Chapter 6 is broken into two parts. Here's part 1.

Chapter 6a

House spent another sleepless night thinking about Wilson, only this time he was concentrating more on what was happening in Wilson's life than his own. The way Wilson was acting… did he already know what Julie had been up to? That was fine with House. He did promise Julie he'd keep her secret, but that didn't mean Wilson shouldn't know. He actually was dying to tell the young doctor, but wasn't too keen on being the bearer of bad news. If Wilson already knew, well, that would makes things a lot easier for House. And House liked easier.

Tuesday was a light day for House other than suffering through two hours of clinic duty. His patient was doing well, responding to the meds he had prescribed. House planned to spend the rest of the day watching television, listening to music and harassing his underlings.

He just finished watching General Hospital, a particularly juicy episode, and was now bored. His team of diagnosticians was out performing doctor chores so he didn't have them to abuse. He walked outside to his shared balcony to peek into Wilson's office. While he was still annoyed, his initial anger had dissipated due to a combination of circumstances and a much needed cooling off period.

He peered into Wilson's office and saw him sitting behind his desk reading. House returned to his office and snatched a magazine off his desk and went back outside, walking over to Wilson's glass door. He tapped lightly on the door, opened it and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Wilson looked up from his desk. "What, House?'

"What are you reading?" House asked, as he limped over and slowly sank down into one of the chairs in front of Wilson's desk. He leaned forward to get a better look at the young doctor's reading material, which turned out to be a patient's file. House tilted his head to get a better look at the patient's name.

The label read Victoria Chandler. "Victoria Chandler" House read aloud. "Sounds hot," he said.

Wilson looked at him. "No, not hot. Sick. Very sick," he said.

"Boring," House quipped. He tossed the magazine he had brought onto Wilson's desk. Wilson leaned forward to read the title. On the cover it read in big letters, People's Top 10 Sexiest Women of the Year.

"Guess who number one is," House said.

"I don't have time for this…."

"Come on, you have time for one guess."

Wilson leaned back in his chair in defeat. "Okay. How about… Carmen Electra?"

House's face fell. "You cheated," he accused.

"No, I didn't," Wilson defended himself.

"Yes you did. You were in my office and you saw the magazine. Admit it, Dr. Cheater," House snapped.

"No, House, I didn't."

"Then how did you know?"

"I heard it on The Today Show yesterday morning," the young doctor said. "Technically not cheating."

"Oh," House said, deflated. He looked up at Wilson. "So what do you think of Katie Couric? Now she's hot."

"House! I don't have time for this," Wilson repeated, his voice raised this time.

House studied the young oncologist's appearance. Tired and drawn, even more so today than yesterday. "Humor me," he said.

"Why?" Wilson asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you even doing here?"

"I'm bored," House said.

Wilson stared at him, his face expressionless.

"How was Julie's meeting?" the older doctor asked. Wilson was taken aback by this sudden change of topic.

"I don't know, I didn't ask her," he responded, his voice edgy. He looked away from House and stared out the glass door of his office.

House was now almost a hundred percent convinced that Wilson knew his wife was fooling around on him. He was dying to tell him but had promised Julie, now affectionately known as The Cheater, that he wouldn't. Fortunately for him, there was a very good chance that this was no longer an issue. After all, Wilson had found out the first time; it was very possible he had done the same this time … although he never really did tell House how he had found out.

"What's going on with you?" House asked, reclaiming Wilson's attention.

Wilson sighed and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk and resting his forehead on the palms of his hands. House didn't say anything. After a moment, Wilson picked up his head and looked sadly at House.

"I moved out this morning," he said. "Julie and I are splitting up."

There it was… Wilson knew. "Sorry to hear that," House said with genuine concern. "Where are you staying?" he asked.

"Right now I'm at the Summerfield Suites on Route 1," Wilson said. "Nice place."

House nodded. "Good food?"

"Passable."

"Look, Wilson, if there's anything I can…."

"Appreciate that," Wilson said cutting him off. "I really have to get back to this," the young doctor said as he picked up the file he had been reading and opened it again.

House nodded as he leaned into his cane and stood up. "See you later," he said quietly, turning towards the door.

"Later," Wilson replied, watching House leave through the glass door. He took a deep breath and turned his attention back to the medical file he had been reading when House had come in.

House glanced over his shoulder as he slowly walked back to his office. Wilson doesn't deserve this, he thought. As he stepped into his office he saw Foreman and Chase in the conference room. He smiled, dropping the magazine onto his desk and limped quickly across his office to join them.

The second part of Chapter 6… the conclusion… will be posted shortly.