The week was as dull as ever. The team woke up in the morning, came into work, brainstormed, and went home. It felt as if they were a never-ending broken record, playing some ridiculous song like "Barbie Girl". Schedules finally changed when they figured out their patient had vasculitis, which never happened. House went down to lunch in a somewhat better mood and only insulted two of the nurses on the way.

He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to remember the times he had with Stacy in this hospital. Most were bad but they were still memories and that was all he had. This killed him. It wasn't like he enjoyed being miserable. He loved being a pain in the ass. It was entertaining but there was nothing entertaining about being alone, again.

Within minutes House was in the cafeteria hoping to spot one familiar face. The oncologist stood out in the yellow painted room with his bright white lab coat on. One day House would ask him how it never looked dirty. He noticed the bags under Wilson's eyes from across the room, which could only mean one thing, wife trouble. It was a constant conversation between the two. House would be an ass, Wilson would snap, House would still be an ass, Wilson would go into detail about his problem, and then House would offer his couch to Wilson. Simple.

"So what's on the menu for lunch today? Brown mush? Green mush? Or my favorite, a mixture?" he hobbled to his friend. Wilson had piled his plate with salad before House had managed to find him. The line was unusually long but House didn't mind cutting in front of all the people behind Wilson. Most the people were patients and didn't dare argue with a cripple, something House didn't abject to.

"Your life is tragic isn't it?" Wilson snapped without even so much as a look towards House.

Knowing Wilson for a number of years, House could tell when he was playing and when there was something bothering him. Raising an eyebrow, "Julie kicked you out last night?"

It was a blessing to have such a great friendship as they did, at times however Wilson hated the fact House could see right through him. "Anyone ever tell you you're an ass?" he didn't feel like talking about Julie not after what had happened last night.

Seeing the pain in his companions face, he decided to ignore the comment and follow the routine. "Hey there is this General Hospital marathon going on all night. How about you come over, we order Chinese and laugh at how many lines Cuddy has stolen from the show," Routine. House never openly asked Wilson if he wanted to stay the night on his couch because he wasn't allowed in his own home. It didn't make House feel like a good doer and left Wilson with some pride.

"Thanks," he muttered now appearing to be a little friendlier. "How are you?" he asked House innocently while finally managing to get to the cash register and pay for both lunches.

"Those are my most hated three words. The person always asks the question with something in mind," House complained as the two made their way over to an empty lunch table.

"Funny I would think 'I Love You' would be your most hated words," Wilson retorted back with ease making House watch him closely.

"Nice," he mumbled, trying to put all on his concentration on the simple sandwich in front of him.

"Sorry," Wilson knew it was a low blow. The House/Stacy relationship had been a rocky one to say the least and rubbing in words such as "love" didn't help. "So how are you?" he repeated.

House rolled his eyes and kept them moving so he didn't make eye contact with a single person in the room. He spotted the tall auburn haired attorney three tables away from where he was sitting. She had on a red pants suit that complimented her hair well. With a tray in hand she walked over to a table that was not unoccupied. Allison Cameron had her elbows on the wooden surface and was smiling at the attorney. It was just a minute later that Wilson noticed the two women as well.

"Is that Helen over there with Cameron?" the oncologist asked, leaning into the table to get a better look at her but didn't mind that Cameron was over there as well.

"She's eating a hamburger," House said astonished.

"Yes even women eat. Strange how they do that," replied the other sarcastically.

"But it's not a woman thing to eat in the presence of men," he stated still watching the females.

"Part of me wants to understand what you are saying and the other just wants to run away quickly," admitted Wilson.

"Most women, especially in a business surrounding won't eat foods like that. They stick to the chicken salad, chef salad, or a sandwich. She doesn't care," she reminded him so much of Stacy it hurt to watch her but he was too late. Helen was intriguing even if he hated to admit it.

"House, we are beginning to look like stalkers just staring at them like this," Wilson whispered before eating a bite of his salad. "You never told me how your meeting her was."

The scruffy doctor opened his bag of chips and began to devoir them. "She heard me on the phone with you the other day," voice slightly muffled by the amount of chips in his mouth.

"And she doesn't hate you already? This will be different," taking a sip of his Coke involuntarily.

With a sigh, "No it won't." He motioned towards the woman, "She has to prove to herself that she isn't the person I made her out to be. It's in our nature to do what is not expected of us. Besides, Helen Jordan isn't any different that any other female. Another person for me to annoy and another person for you to hit on." He sounded almost excited at the idea of fresh meat. Boy was she in for a treat.

In defense, "I don't hit on every female that works here House." Wilson tried to make that as believable as possible.

"Name one," House commanded.

"I don't know every female who works at this hospital," he sighed looking at his salad as if it were going to give him an answer.

A slight smirk escaped House's lips making his exterior seem close to friendly. "But the ones you do know, you have hit on."

Desperately thinking of one woman he hadn't hit on, Wilson searched the room for an answer. Someone was listening to his prayers because at that exact moment Brenda, a nurse, came walking into the now less crowded lunchroom. "Brenda," he said with defiance.

"Last year's Christmas party. You both were very drunk. You're Jewish, you weren't even suppose to be there," he said with an evil grin.

"Cameron was there and she doesn't believe in God," he offered. Banter always seemed to make these two at ease with their lives.

"She's as soft as a marshmallow. Christmas is the official holiday for marshmallow. There's eggnog, carols, and mistletoe. Pure fluff" hopefully Wilson wouldn't mention Valentine's Day. In all truth that was the marshmallow day but House didn't want to ruin the rhythm at which the dialogue was going at.

"You were that one strange kid who sided with Scrooge right?" A minute after he asked the question, he remembered Valentines. He wanted to prove House wrong but it was all in the rhythm. He didn't want to ruin it either.

"Jimmy, you're avoiding my original point. You can't keep from hitting on every human with a vagina," House took a gulp of his Coke waiting for an argument.

"So? You can't be nice to a single person without throwing your whole being off," no use in denying his own flaws.

Allison Cameron had been sitting at the table since Wilson had walked into the lunch line. Her head was spinning at the possibility that he might sit with her once he paid for his food. Hopefully House wouldn't come in and destroy that hope. Cameron knew her feelings towards Wilson were purely professional so she was concerned when she started feeling something other than admiration for him. They were friends. That was all.

These schoolgirl emotions didn't come easy to her. Even when she was in school, Cameron focused on learning all she could before trying to make it as a doctor. All of her relationships were based on her work. She met her husband at her job, met his best friend there as well, met House, and finally…. met Wilson.

Moments later she saw a familiar man limp through the crowd. Gone. Her hope was gone. Why did House seem to ruin her hope all the time? That was an immature way to look at things but it was what she was feeling. Was she not good enough for him? Is that why he turned her down? All of these feeling, emotions, and ideas were sounding idiotic at the moment making her thankful by the presence of another.

"Dr. Cameron?" asked Helen with a slight weakness but a smile to make up for it.

Allison stared at the woman for a full minute before realizing whom it was. Smiling out of embarrassment she said, "Oh hi Helen. Sorry long day," she said apologetically.

With a slight chuckle, "I can see that. Would you mind if I ate lunch with you? Little crowded today and Dr. Wilson and Dr. House just took the last empty table," biting her lip she shrugged with a smirk. "My luck I suppose."

"It's fine with me," she was actually doing Cameron a favor. The immunologist didn't want to sit by herself, left to her own thoughts.

Nodding in appreciation, Helen pulled out a chair with her free hand and sat down across from Cameron. The attorney watched the younger woman at the table closely. Cameron hadn't touched any of her food and was having a hard time keeping her eyes off her boss' table.

"That is a wonderful feeling isn't it?" Helen asked with a smile. Before Cameron had a chance to take in what the question was, her colleague continued. "The mix of fear, incase his eyes meet yours and excitement because you know that nothing would make your day brighter than if his actually did meet yours."

Cameron's face grew warm with each word that came from Helen's mouth. She shook her head steadily, "I don't have any feelings for Dr. House anymore." News traveled fast around this place.

Helen took a sip of her soda and gave a smirk. "No. I wasn't talking about Dr. House but Dr. Wilson is another thing. You obviously have some type of feelings for him."

And with that Cameron was officially caught. Someone said it out loud. She had to admit it now. She had feelings for James Wilson.