023. Lovers
You Too Lie Down
Wilson leaned naked against the doorway and stared with benign satisfaction at the man lying asleep in the bed, the light from the corridor making a wide line across the bed. The sheets were pooled around his waist and one hand lay stretched out over the empty half of the bed while the other lay limply on his chest. His face was tilted away from the door and the light showed not only the stubble crawling across his jaw but also the lovebites Wilson had left on his neck.
A smile flickered across Wilson's face at the last. He wondered how House was going to explain them to his staff because Foreman at the very least was going to comment. He brought a rueful hand up and rubbed at the marks he knew lay on his own neck. Well, whatever troubles House had were going to be matched by his own.
But what was making him feel happy right now was the contented expression he could just see on House's face. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen House look so content, so relaxed. The fact that he was the one who had put that expression there was just an added bonus.
As he watched, House's eyes flickered open then a tiny frown appeared. House looked over towards the door, the hand that had been stretched over the empty side of the bed curling in towards his side. The frown vanished when he saw Wilson standing in the doorway and a lazy smile took its place. Wilson felt something lift in his chest at the sight of that smile and he returned it.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey," House replied, his voice gravelly with sleep. "Weren't you over here before?"
Wilson chuckled. "Needed a drink."
House shifted on the bed and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "And you stayed in the doorway, why?"
Wilson gave him a lazy, languid smile. "Just enjoying the view."
"Never knew you were a voyeur," House replied.
"I've been watching you for years," Wilson said. "Just enjoying the fact I can do it openly now. Enjoying the fact I'm finally in your bed."
House shifted again and tucked one hand behind his head though his expression remained content. "Could have been here years ago if you dropped even one hint you were anything other than completely straight."
Wilson smiled. "Could say the same about you. Or was Stacy just an aberration?"
"Stacy was…" House's expression became contemplative. "I did love her. S'pose I still do in some way. Just not in love with her anymore."
"Good," Wilson said softly.
House smiled slowly, the open display of the emotions usually so deeply hidden making Wilson's heart skip a beat.
"You're not competing with her, James. Her…me…that's over. Has been for a long time. Has been since she…saved my life and fucked it up in one fell swoop."
"You've been so…strange since she came back," Wilson said hesitantly.
"She brought a lot of memories back with her," House admitted. "Good ones and bad ones. Bad ones…kind of outweigh the good ones though. Been hard to…to deal with it all and her at the same time." He paused and eyed Wilson curiously. "Is she the reason you finally made a move?"
Wilson stared down at the floor for a moment then looked back over at House. "Yeah," he said softly. "I always liked her. She was fun, she was smart and she was…she was good for you once. But now…now I hate what she does to you. How you are when she's around, how you act when she walks away." He stared down at the floor again as he continued. "I had no idea whether you felt anything for me other than friendship though I did have some suspicions. I wanted you to stop dwelling on her. I wanted…" He made a small huffing noise. "I wanted to…to replace her. To make you happy, Greg."
"I'm never happy," House said with a snort then his voice softened. "James."
Wilson slowly raised his eyes to look at House. The older man was sitting up and his expression was open and affectionate.
"This is probably as close as I'm ever going to get to that state," he said, his eyes full of the many things he could not find the words to say.
Wilson smiled, both at the words and what was in House's eyes. "Good."
House's expression became a fraction heated and he patted the bed beside him. "Now get over here. The bed's getting cold."
Wilson pushed himself off the doorway and gave House a predatory smile. "We can't have that now, can we?"
He prowled over to the bed and climbed on, yanking the sheets back then crawling up House's body until he could capture House's lips in a fierce kiss. House moaned into the kiss as he ran his hands up Wilson's sides then back down to grab his hips. Wilson broke away from the kiss, smiling at House's whimper.
"Mine," he whispered as he lowered his body down on top of his lover's.
House smiled, his eyes dark with passion. "Mine," he echoed.
"Yes," Wilson replied, returning to the kiss he had interrupted.