He knows he's going to ruin this evening as soon as they step into the restaurant. The whole thing is too perfect, like a fairytale stuck on replay he can see them from afar. Two halves of a whole trying to fit together, desperately looking for that one piece that will complete the picture.
They will fail.
He just knows.
And he tries, he really does but he can't stop the words; they come as an automatic reaction to her questions and even years later he will be able to recall the exact moment when she realizes.
And for the first time in his life Gregory House feels like an idiot.