Actually, Wilson wasn't entirely sure if House even knew about the new guy. Cuddy normally put especially important memos that he needed to see in a folder marked 'Private' on her computer for him to break in and look at, but he doubted she had bothered in this case.
"And, the final item of the day, I'm pleased to introduce our newest doctor, Dr. Timothy White."
Everyone stood up to greet him, and the commotion managed to rouse House.
"Wha's goin' on?" He slurred quietly to Wilson.
"Our new doctor." He pointed up the front, and House went pale.
"I have to go, important saving lives stuff. See you at lunch?"
He hurried out of the room, Wilson staring at his swiftly retreating back. That wasn't the reaction he'd expected, and he wanted to find out why.
"Hi," Wilson walked up and held out his hand, "I'm James Wilson, and I'm also saying hello on behalf on Gregory House, who leaves all meetings as soon as possible. I'm sure you'll see him in the next couple of days."
The man smiled, "I'm sure I will. Actually, if you could direct me to his office, I'd be much obliged. We have a lot of catching up to do."
Wilson wrestled with his morals for a moment. His good side was telling him that his best friend was deliberately avoiding this man, and so wouldn't appreciate him being shown House's office, but his bad side (which made sarcastic comments pop up at inopportune times, and sounded rather like House) was pointing out how entertaining that conversation sounded as if it would be.
"Certainly," he said, making up his mind, "I can even lead you there. My office is right next door, you see."
"Thank you."
They walked in silence to the elevator while Wilson tried to think of a conversation starter. 'Why doesn't House want to see you?' was rejected, and 'How do you know House?' sounded wrong.
"What kind of a doctor are you?" Wilson eventually asked.
"I'm a surgeon. How about you?"
"An oncologist."
"Difficult work, knowing most of your patients will probably die."
"Well," Wilson said, starting to get annoyed at the man, "We can only hope."
"Hope. A curer of many ills."
Wilson glanced at him. He couldn't quite tell if White was being sarcastic or not, so he simply didn't reply.
"Here we go, House's office."
White nodded in thanks, before walking into the glass room. Wilson followed him, leaning against the doorframe.
"Low white blood cells, kidney failure, and blindness mean?"
White cleared his throat, and House spun around.
"Hello Greg."
"Tim. Wonderful to see you again, but I'm working. Can't talk now I'm afraid."
White smiled, "But I've missed you. What about lunch, my treat?"
"Already got plans with Wilson."
"Dinner?"
"Busy then too."
"Greg…" White said quietly. "Why don't you want to meet up? Just to talk."
"I would, but I really am busy. Lots of clinic duty I have to do."
Wilson and the ducklings all snorted in disbelief, and House glared at them.
"Well, I'll just join you and Wilson for lunch. Do you mind, Wilson?"
"Nope."
"See you at twelve then." He grinned around the room, before leave.
House rounded on Wilson. "Traitor!"
"What?" He asked.
"Now I'm stuck having lunch with an ex of mine, who has been trying to get back together with me for years. It's all your fault."
"Wait," Chase said uncertainly, "An ex? As in, an ex-boyfriend? Of yours? "
"Yes." House said, looking as though he was missing the point.
"But you always talk about Cuddy, and you dated Stacy."
"Oh, you never got taught the full birds and the bees." House said patronisingly. "Sometimes, when a boy likes girls, they have a baby, and some boys like other boys, so they don't have babies. Finally, there are the boys like me, who like boys AND girls, but won't have babies, because they smell funny, and don't taste good unless you have lots of barbeque sauce. Got all that, or do I need to explain more fully?"
"No," Cameron said weakly, "I think we all got it."
"Fine. Now Wilson and I are going to get lunch."
"But it's only eleven thirty… Weren't you meeting him at twelve?" Chase asked.
"You really are full of stupid questions today. I'm avoiding him, but want lunch. So, I'll eat now, and be called away by… you, Foreman, at ten past."
"I don't know," Foreman said, "I sometimes forget these things…"
"Fine," House snapped, "I'll give you first choice of the jobs I give you three for a week."
"A
month?"
"Two weeks."
"And, suddenly, my memory is coming back. Page you at ten past. Gotcha."
"Now, if there are no more interruptions, Wilson, lunch." He half dragged the protesting oncologist down the hall to the elevator, and Chase and Cameron turned on Foreman.
"How can you give in to him like that? This would have been so funny!" Chase demanded.
Foreman looked puzzled. "I don't know what you mean. I am going down to have lunch. If I happen to warn Dr. White on the way, well, it's not my fault House has to spend forty minutes with him…"
Evil grins spread over the three faces. House had recently annoyed all of them in some way or another, and turnabout is only fair…
They managed to get a prime seat, a few tables behind House. There was a closer one, but would be visible to him, and Foreman didn't really want to be subjected to the hell that House would make their lives if he worked out they had orchestrated this.
"Hey, Greg!" White made his way over to their table with a pleasant smile on his face, while every staff member looked at him with the expression of someone about to witness a horrible accident, but would have no way of stopping it.
The last nurse who had tried to sit with House and Wilson at lunch had been sent crying to the bathrooms five minutes after getting there, and House had been in a good mood that day. Add his natural testiness to the fact that the new doctor was calling him by a nickname, and they expected to see him get the reaming out of his life.
Instead, House slunk lower in his chair, cursing quietly as White made his way over.
"Tim,
what a surprise… How did you know to come now, we were just about
to page you."
"A little bird told me," he said tapping his
nose.
"Would that little bird be a black man with the mind of a particularly nasty lawyer, who is sitting behind me right now, and should know that our little deal is off?"
Tim looked slightly puzzled, but craned his neck to find Foreman, before nodding.
"So, Greg, you remember how we used to love going to concerts? Well, I happened to have a spare ticket for Friday, if you're interested." He waved the tickets enticingly in front of House's nose.
"No thanks." House dismissed them casually.
"Why are you so against spending time together, Greg? It's not like I expected we'd be straight back to having sex in supply closets, but you could be a little open."
The cafeteria went silent, as everyone who had been discreetly eavesdropping (everyone) spat out whatever had been in their mouths.
"Because I'm deeply in love with Wilson," House said sarcastically, fluttering his eyelashes, "he completes me."
Normally everyone would ignore this, as they did all his insinuations that he and Cuddy were at it like rabbits, but pair the recent revelation with how much time they spent together, and suspicious eyes were being cast over the oncologist.
Tim laughed. "There's no way you're sleeping with him. He's too… nice."
Wilson thought this might have been an insult, but was far too interested in the verbal tennis to care.
"Yeah, well. Maybe I like nice. I slept with Cameron, she's nicer than puppies coated in sugar!"
The watching eyes turned to Cameron, who blushed.
"One time!" No one was even bothering to be discreet anymore. The participants were far too busy to notice that everyone was listening.
"You couldn't handle nice. You thrive on pain, you enjoy it." White's handsome face was twisted into a sneer, and Wilson knew he had to cut in.
"Yeah, we are."
"Lying to protect him, how sweet." White said nastily. "How very nice. Prove it."
Wilson gathered his courage, and pulled House down to his level.
"I don't owe you for making you have lunch with him anymore." He whispered, before thoroughly kissing the older man.
It felt odd being the shorter one, and the stubble hurt, but at the same time it felt right, and House was certainly good at this. The cafeteria had exploded into catcalls and wolf whistles, and Wilson enjoyed the fact that he could hide his blush behind House. He didn't expect his first kiss with the man to be in front of about a hundred people.
"Enough proof?" House asked sardonically.
"Plenty," White spat out. "Actually, I don't think I'll take this job. No amount is worth putting up with you."
"Obviously. Feel free to let the door hit you on the way out."
As he stormed out, House looked at Wilson with an amused expression.
"You lied for me. You said you'd never lie for my sake again."
"It's not a lie," Wilson rationalised, "It's a… future truth."
House just laughed, and kissed him again, blatantly flipping off all the watchers behind Wilson's back.