Chapter 9

Wilson's wooden door creaked as House closed it behind him, wearing a smile of pure relief and happiness. Finally, Wilson was moving in with him, and despite the horrible situation Amber had created hours prior, House was at ease with the entire situation. He had successfully eased Wilson into this new life, and had personally benefited from the process as well. It was true that he had not realized how shaken being "outed" would make him feel, but in the present moment, he felt as though he and Wilson could rule the world.

House began to hobble down the hall, stumbling occasionally since he had broken his cane. As he reached the halfway point down the hall, he saw the elevator doors slide open, revealing the familiar figure of Cuddy. Her hawk-eyes immediately found House's dazed ones as she strode out of the elevator, down the hall, stopping before House. She gave him one long, deep look, biting her lip as she looked at him. House scrutinized her objectively; he knew exactly why she was here.

"Just letting you know, this conversation doesn't start until I make a joke about your low cut top."

"Although that was a horrible one, I'm guessing it still counts," Cuddy gave as her snide remark.

"Ha. Ha. What do you want?" House prompted.

"We need to talk," Cuddy said, glancing quickly around and speaking in a softer tone. House raised a single eyebrow.

"I thought you'd want to talk about Amber."

"I do," Cuddy said, apparently startled that House already knew her topic of conversation. "Don't you want to talk about it somewhere private?" House could tell she was entirely baffled by his openness.

"No point," House shrugged, "she's let it out in the open – no point in denying it."

Cuddy gave House a double take, blinking quickly and nodding her head quickly as she attempted to comprehend what House was saying.

"Wilson's stifled your denial," she guessed.

"Actually, I smothered his," House replied triumphantly.

"Uh-huh," Cuddy said slowly, clearly displaying her complete disbelief. "But seriously House, aren't you furious about all of this?"

"I passed the point of fury around the same time I snapped my cane in two."

"Then why weren't you immediately in my office demanding a court order for her? I at least expected you to upturn a few chairs!"

"Because," House responded, gritting his teeth in slight annoyance, "I'm okay with it."

"You're... 'okay' with your sexuality being dragged out into the open like this?"

"You ever had that feeling of deja vu?" House said, giving Cuddy the impression he was trying to change the subject.

"Don't try and change the subject: you need to talk about this."

House took a deep breath, turning his head slightly sideways as he tried to contain his laughter, "I already did."

Cuddy gaped at House. "With who?" Curiosity emulated from her voice.

"Wilson," House replied, shrugging the answer off as if it were a dead giveaway.

Cuddy frowned in concern. "How did he take the news?"

"Surprisingly well," House responded vaguely, reminiscing about Wilson's absolutely phenomenal breakthrough as he spoke. Those fantastic words seemed to echo within House's mind: "I want to move in with you. I don't care what Amber's done." Those words were as comforting as the familiar, comforting figure who he stood before moments prior, and he could not help but smile despite himself.

Cuddy scrutinized House, observing his smile with every intent of discovering how on earth this man who scorned society, hated others interfering with his life and strived to maintain independence could stand before her with this carefree attitude. It was unheard of; Cuddy almost wanted to rub her eyes and pinch herself in order to prove that she was truly talking to House. Yet, before she could convince herself to show even more signs of disbelief, she allowed herself to consider another radical concept: House had changed.

"You're.. still dating, I'm guessing?" Cuddy asked.

"Of course," House said, continuing to smile as he remembered Wilson's hands resting calmly against his face.

Cuddy felt herself breaking into a relieved smile, letting out a sigh as she shook her head at House.

"Honestly House, I don't think I'll ever be able to entirely understand you. I come here to offer my support in fighting Amber and any other homophobes who cross your path. But now, it looks as though none of this matters to you in the slightest."

"Oh, it matters," House admitted, "it's just not going to change anything between me and Wilson."

"And Wilson knows this, right? I don't want you to push him away; I think that's what I'm afraid of the most. I don't want either of you to suddenly think that you're in the middle of something that never should've happened and leave the other in the dust. I've seen Wilson go through that one too many times."

"We've all seen Wilson go through that. You're not the only one who talks to Wilson. And besides, we've already talked about this," House repeated, stating this fact with more firmness than before.

"But you never answered my question: is Wilson okay with all of this?"

"If he wasn't, I don't think he would have been begging to move in with me," he grinned and looked away as he revealed the late-breaking news.

Cuddy broke into an enormous smile, clapping her hands over her gaping mouth in excitement. Her gasp entirely audible, displaying her sheer thrill.

"House, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed, breathing slightly more heavily from her rapture.

House opened his mouth to respond, but faltered as he saw his conference room door swing open, welcoming the figure of Thirteen into their conversation.

As Thirteen settled herself between the excited figure of Cuddy and House, she looked from one doctor to the next, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the situation.

"What's going on?" she asked, mostly directing the question at House.

House felt himself opening his mouth to give an answer, but Cuddy cut across him.

"Wilson and House are going to live together!"

House clapped a hand to his forehead, slowly allowing it to slide down his face in slightly embarrassed frustration.

Thirteen's blue eyes widened as she looked again from House to Cuddy to House again, then fixating her stare on House's light blue eyes.

"Really?" she asked breathlessly. House rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue as he did so.

"Yes, really," he finally admitted, causing Thirteen to break into the biggest smile he had ever seen since he had hired the mysterious woman. She joined in with Cuddy's excited claps as she bounced up and down slightly, giving House a fiercely happy look.

"I'm so happy for you!" she nearly yelled, her voice dimly echoing throughout the hall. "Amber shouldn't have said those things. She's absolutely awful – really knows how to rub me the wrong way. I wanted to punch her earlier, but I was just so angry I couldn't do anything."

House had never heard Thirteen say that many words in one minute, not to mention at that insanely quick rate. He had to squint slightly in order to comprehend her small speech, processing her excitement as he kept in mind the extra meaning this news possessed for her. If her boss, recently announced gay, could openly share the fact he was moving in with his partner, it implied a newfound sense of security which she could have about herself and her personal feelings. More than anything, House's openness gave her a form of comfort which she had been uneasy to assure for herself prior to any of the day's symbolic events.

Her enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air for House, and he realized that he had unintentionally broken down a barrier for Thirteen which she had struggled for so long to maintain out of fear. Now, it was clear that that barrier was not only weaker in Thirteen's mind, but almost unnecessary. Sadly, there would always be a need for the foundational security in being secretly bisexual or gay, but for Thirteen, House was now a very bizarre role model.

Obviously, the idea of being any kind of role model or hero intimidated House, and he had to restrain himself from trying to tell Thirteen to drop the fantasy she'd so quickly developed. He knew she needed some sort of support, but the role model form of support was just something he could never offer.

"Thanks," House finally said quietly, turning away from Thirteen's excited face.

"What? You don't want me to be happy?" she immediately retorted.

"It's not that," House defended, "just don't make it out to be more than it really is. I'm dating Wilson, we like each other, we want to live together. It's a simple idea."

"Only when you put it like that," Cuddy answered sharply, still wearing a proud grin.

"Yeah, well--"

House was interrupted by the elevator dinging, this time opening to reveal two figures who immediately leapt out of the elevator and ran enthusiastically down the hall. The figures had blonde hair which bobbled as they ran, their lab coats fluttering behind them. The sound of heels mixed with shoes thudding against the tile of the hallway as Cameron and Chase greeted House with unusually friendly waves, stopping at the cloister of supporters which were rallying around House. Upon seeing the couple, House could not help but roll his eyes yet again in disbelief. Surely word hadn't spread that quickly...

"We heard about Amber," Cameron immediately spoke, panting slightly.

"And we just wanted to say we're here for you," Chase finished her sentence, flashing his uncannily white smile.

"He and Wilson are moving in together!" Thirteen revealed to the newcomers, causing both Cameron and Chase in turn to gasp, gape as widely as their mouths would allow and look at House in a combined form of shock and euphoria.

"House, that's fantastic!" Chase exclaimed.

"You're not worried about Amber?" Cameron asked, clearly voicing her own concerns. "What if she decides bringing your relationship out into the open isn't bad enough?" She placed her hands on her hips as she spoke, shifting her weight to one side as she scrutinized her former boss as if looking at him for the first time.

House sighed, "For the last time," he said exasperatedly, "you don't think I've talked to Wilson about all of this? You think I've just jumped into it without thinking?"

Chase shrugged, "Some people may do that."

"Oh, so now I'm 'some people'?" House mocked in his typical fashion, causing Chase to frown slightly and fall silent.

"Don't worry about me," House said stubbornly. "I've got Wilson for that," he added for good measure. Unfortunately, his comment yielded to more excited hand clapping, gasps and smiles, topped off by four smiling faces.

"No, you can't have my autograph," he quipped, then attempting to push his way through the small mob that had formed. House could not help but feel as though he were some sort of rock-star being bombarded with reporters, and he felt his personal instincts kicking in; he wanted to be alone again. As he continued to try and excuse himself, he stumbled slightly since he did not have his cane for support. He recovered quickly and began to continue walking, only to hear that familiar wooden door creak open several feet behind him, followed by a loud slam and a rhythmic pattern of thudding feet coming towards him.

House turned around to see Wilson coming towards him, wearing his lab coat over his lavender shirt. He felt a bit silly that he hadn't noticed what Wilson was wearing earlier, and he could not help but break into a smile upon seeing that famous shirt.

"Nice shirt," House felt the words leave his mouth before he had even thought of teasing his partner about it. Wilson reached the group of doctors and stopped walking in order to gaze down at his shirt. He shrugged modestly.

"Purple's my color," he quipped.

"Lavender," House teased.

"Is this a new welcoming committee?" Wilson asked, completely puzzled by the group which stood before him, beaming with every ounce of energy they had.

"Apparently there's a heavy irony about dating men: you get all the girls."

Chase threw House an annoyed look which House ignored, while the rest of the group continued to smile, laughing slightly at House's typical remark.

Wilson shrugged again, throwing out his hands, "It doesn't bother me." He looked from House's smiling face to his new fan club, and his eyebrows furrowed in bafflement and even slight embarrassment.

"I don't mean to be rude," he apologized, "but I was planning on taking House out to dinner. And uh," he stammered; he hadn't expected an audience for this speech, "they might give away our table if we don't hurry up." He ran his hand along the back of his neck in his traditional manner whenever he was uneasy.

"In other words," House spoke up, "go away."

The group sighed exasperatedly, gave the couple one last look of encouragement and moved as a single entity towards the elevator, leaving House and Wilson alone.

"Right, so," Wilson said, now directing everything at House, "I was planning on bringing my stuff over to your place tonight. Is that... okay?"

"As long as you don't mind canceling that dinner reservation – we're going to have to order pizza if you plan on unpacking all of your crap tonight."

"Eh, I just said that so we'd be alone," Wilson admitted, blushing despite himself. House chuckled, his shoulders shaking.

"So... pizza?" House then suggested.

"Sure."

"Ah but first," House said, beginning to lead Wilson towards the elevator, "you owe me a new cane."