Title: Save The Best For Last (Chapter 2 - revised)
Pairing: W/C, H/OC
Warnings: Spoilers through the end of Season 1
Summary: "Sometimes the very thing you're looking for is the one thing you can't see."
Disclaimer: Don't own "House, M.D." or any characters, locations or other things related to it. The title and summary are from the Vanessa Williams song "Save the Best for Last" Also, you may recognize bits of the dialogue here because they are a direct quote from the show and therefore not mine. Just borrowing it for a little while.

Chapter 2 – Moving On

It was a typical Wednesday morning, or so Wilson thought as he walked down the hall toward the Diagnostics department. House's team had called him in for a consult on their current case.

All three young doctors looked up when he walked in.

Foreman greeted him. "Dr. Wilson, glad you could make it."

Wilson shrugged. "You said you guys needed a consult."

Foreman nodded. "We do…" He trailed off, and exchanged a look with Cameron and Chase.

"Oh." Wilson easily interpreted the looks. "You want to know something about House." As House's closest, and only, friend, he was often called in when a question about the older doctor arose.

"Well, it's just that he's been acting so strange lately." Cameron said. She sounded a little concerned.

Wilson nodded. He'd noticed the small changes too. House was doing his clinic hours with less complaint, and it had been at least a week since Wilson had heard of a nurse being brought to tears by him. "I know, but I don't know what he's up to." He answered honestly. He saw House approaching and backed himself into the corner to observe.

House entered the conference room. "Good morning, my loyal and faithful subjects." Cameron, Foreman and Chase all exchanged glances but responded in kind to his greeting. As he moved to get a cup of coffee, he noticed Wilson loitering in the corner. "Wilson? Why are you here?"

Wilson opted for half-truth. "Foreman said cancer was a suspect in this case; I'm here for a consult." He was trying and probably failing to hide his surprise at his friend's demeanor.

House took a sip of his coffee and nodded. "Right. Mr...Hargroves, any change since yesterday?"

Cameron smiled at him, surprised that he had remembered and even used the patient's name. "No, he hasn't gotten any better or worse."

The five doctors spent about an hour discussing symptoms and possible diagnoses. They ruled out cancer and other things, and House finally sent Cameron, Foreman and Chase to run tests. He picked up his coffee mug and moved to his office; Wilson followed. He had to find out what was going on with House.

Wilson watched House as he walked to his desk and sat down; Wilson's brow was wrinkled in confusion. Finally, he sat in the chair across from House. "Ok, what's wrong with you?"

House looked up, face thoughtful. "Depends on who you ask. Cameron thinks I need a hug and possibly a puppy. I think Foreman and Chase are both of the opinion that I just need a swift kick in the ass. Cuddy thinks I'm a pompous ass. You usually tell me I need to get laid. And my mother thinks I'm an angel, incapable of any kind of wrongdoing." He finished, giving Wilson an irritatingly innocent look.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "That's not what I mean, and you know it." He paused. "You've been nice today, even, dare I say? Chipper? And it isn't just today. I've been noticing small changes for about a month; your team is noticing too."

"That the real reason you were here today?"

Wilson sighed. "They just wanted me to talk to you, make sure nothing's wrong. So, what is it?"

It was House's turn to sigh. "Alright, fine, I was going to tell you anyway. Remember a couple of months ago, I put an ad in the paper, looking for a housekeeper?" Wilson nodded. "Well, a little over a month ago, I hired one." He stopped, as though that explained everything.

"So, you're saying that you've been in a better mood because you have a clean house?" He asked incredulously. House just stared back. Realization dawned on Wilson's face. "Unless she's more than just a housekeeper. Are you sleeping with her?" He asked, boyish teasing in his voice. 'He met someone and is just now mentioning it!'

House rolled his eyes. "Not everything is about sex." He paused. "Sometimes it's about good company and good food; she's a great cook."

"So, she cooks for you? And you're not sleeping with her?" He nodded. None of it made sense, there were so many questions. 'Who is this girl?' Only one real way to find out. "Ok. So, do I get to meet her?"

House shook his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. She's pretty shy."

That wasn't all House wanted to say, of that Wilson was sure. But he didn't comment on the unspoken part of the conversation. The part about how insecure House was, and how hard it was for him to admit to having a relationship with a woman again. "So am I." Wilson stated, at the look on House's face, he shrugged. "Ok, maybe not so much, but I'm a laid-back type of guy, how will that make her nervous? Besides you can't just hide her from me forever."

House sighed again. "I'll talk to her."

Wilson chuckled. "Man, she must be something to get to you like this." He headed for the door. He had to meet her. He had to see the woman that House chose over Cameron. 'Who could be better than Cameron?' He mentally rolled his eyes at himself. 'She's not a god or something, Wilson. Get over it.'

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Two days later Wilson went to House's place for dinner and to meet the new girl. He was a little worried as he knocked on the door. House had told him that morning that they'd had a fight before he left for work. He hadn't said it out loud, but Wilson knew that House thought there was a chance she wouldn't even be there that night.

Wilson sighed and knocked on the door in front of him. A moment later the door opened and House was standing in the doorway. Wilson was looking at him with a guarded expression, unsure of what might have happened.

House stepped aside to let Wilson in. "Come on. Dinner's ready; she's putting it on the table now."

Wilson walked into the room then turned to House, who was closing the door. "Is everything okay?"

House nodded. "It'll be better once we have the chance to talk, but it's better than I hoped for already." He gave his friend a small smile.

Wilson smiled back at him. "That's great, House. Welcome back to adult relationships."

"Ha ha. Laugh it up." House replied. His sarcastic retort was cut short by Elizabeth coming into the room.

"Ok, guys, dinner is on the table." She smiled as she stepped up by House.

"Elizabeth, this is Dr. James Wilson. Wilson, this is Elizabeth Jensen." House made the introductions.

They shook hands. "It's so nice to meet you, Dr. Wilson. I've heard so much about you." Elizabeth said.

He smiled charmingly. "The pleasure is most certainly mine. And, please, call me James." She was a beautiful young woman, probably around Cameron's age, he guessed. She had the same long dark brown hair, same ivory skin tone. The eyes were different though, dark blue where Cameron's were deep green. But the similarities, he thought, were astounding.

House rolled his eyes. "Come on. You two are going to ruin my appetite." He grumbled.

"Greg." Elizabeth admonished. She hooked her arm through Wilson's as she led him to the table. "I hope you like chicken parmesan, James."

He nodded. "It smells delicious." Which wasn't a lie. If it tasted half as good as it smelled, he was in for quite a treat. Julie hardly ever cooked big meals anymore.

Wilson watched the scene in front of him as they took their seats at the table and smiled at the happiness he saw in House. This woman made House happy, and Wilson was happy for him. He deserved some happiness after all the shit life had thrown at him.

They spent the evening telling stories and laughing, really enjoying each other's company. Elizabeth told them about stupid criminals she had arrested. Wilson couldn't believe that this beautiful young woman had been a cop. 'And now she's a housekeeper? Definitely a story there.' House and Wilson told stories about various interesting cases they'd had and stunts they'd pulled over the course of their friendship.

Finally around ten, Wilson said. "Well, I should get out of here. I'm sure Julie will be waiting up." He joked, except the seriousness of the problems at home made it completely unfunny.

They all stood; Elizabeth gave Wilson a quick hug. "It was so nice to meet you, James. We'll have to do this again sometime." She smiled, and her offer was sincere.

He nodded and smiled. "Definitely, this was great. And it was nice to meet you, too."

She began to clean off the table, while House walked Wilson to the door.

Wilson turned on the doorstep. "She's a great girl, House, and she obviously cares for you very much."

House nodded. "She's the best thing that's wandered into my life in a long time. I just keep waiting to wake up and find that it's only a dream." He smiled sadly.

Wilson shook his head at House's cynicism. "Is it really so hard for you to accept something good happening to you? I mean, I…I don't get it, House. I don't understand why you are so hell-bent on keeping yourself from being happy." Wilson sighed; he felt helpless in proving to his friend that he deserved happiness.

House sighed too, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm trying, James. You've seen that. But it takes time." He looked his friend in the eye.

Using first names always meant he was serious. Wilson nodded. "I know. I just want you to be happy, Greg. You deserve it." They stared at each other for a moment. "I've got to go. See you Monday." He turned to leave.

"Yeah, see you Monday." House answered.

Wilson sat in his car for a moment, staring at the house in front of him. 'Well, at least, he's trying to be happy.' It was more than Wilson could say for himself. With that, he put the car in gear and went home to sleep alone next to his wife.

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Cameron was sitting in her apartment staring at the television. There was a movie playing out on the screen, but she couldn't have said what it was about. She was too caught up in her thoughts, thinking about House, of course. He'd been in such a bad mood that day, and considering the relatively good mood he'd been in for the past month, this was a cause for some concern.

Finally, around 10:15 she decided to call the one person who could possibly answer her questions.

"Hello?" Wilson answered his cell phone.

"Hey Wilson, it's Cameron." She said, suddenly self-conscious for calling him so late at night.

"Oh, Cameron, hi." His voice was tinged with surprise.

She decided to get right to the point. "Have you talked to House today? He seemed to really depressed about something today."

Wilson didn't know what to say. If he told her the truth, it would only hurt her feelings and cause her pain, but he also didn't want to flat out lie to her. "He just had a rough morning. You know how it is with House. Some days are just worse than others." Well, that was mostly the truth.

Cameron nodded. "Yeah, right. Ok. I just…was a little worried. No big deal. See you on Monday, then." She finished quickly.

"Oh, yeah, see you Monday." He tried to hide his disappointment as he hung up.

Cameron didn't notice anyway; she was still focused on House. 'What's going on with him?' Then a horrible thought occurred to her. 'What if he met someone else?'

The very thought evoked so many thoughts and emotions; she was quickly overcome with depression and cried herself to sleep.

She had told him she was happy for him, that he could love someone else. She had tried to tell herself that she would move on and be fine. Somehow she'd forgotten to tell her heart.

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Author Note: This chapter introduces an original character that has been described as a Mary Sue. If you want a deeper insight into Elizabeth and her relationship with House, you can read it in The Softer Side. That relationship is not the focus of this story, so I'm not going very in-depth into her character. I hope it makes some sense. Please review and let me know what you think.