Title: Conscious Desire

Pairing: House/Wilson, brief House/Cuddy

Rating: PG-13

Summary: House begins viewing his fantasies as reality. One-shot based off the promo for Under My Skin. Spoilers for season 5.

Warnings: General spoilers for season 5. More specific spoilers for episode 5x23 "Under My Skin."

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never was, never will be. If I did own House, those college loans would finally get paid off.

A/N: This story was my first foray into House fan fiction and written after a 3 year hiatus from writing. I first thought this up after seeing the "Huddy" promo for the episode 5x23 "Under My Skin" and the idea refused to go away. Taking into consideration the way season 5 ended, I'm now considering this AU.

They were frantic and uncoordinated. They were hitting walls and stumbling into furniture. Somewhere in the living room, Cuddy had lost her shirt and House had let go of his cane so he could wrap his arms around her. His fingers toyed with the clasped on the back of her lacy bra, but left it hooked for the moment. Cuddy's arms tightened around his neck at the sensation and House started backing them down the hallway toward his bedroom.

How they managed to make their way from by his front door to falling unceremoniously on top of his bed was a mystery House would worry more about later. Cuddy wriggled underneath him to get more comfortable and House pulled back from their kiss so he could carefully straddle her body. He barely noticed that his thigh wasn't protesting the pressure on it and instead allowed Cuddy to bring his head back down for another open-mouthed kiss.

The room became filled with only their harsh pants and moans as they rocked against each other in earnest, too caught up to think about removing any more clothes just yet. House was trying to lose himself, wanting nothing more than to forget all the horrors that had occurred within the past few weeks, and simply allow this undeniable attraction between them to build to a crescendo.

"Is this what you want?"

Amber's voice suddenly whispered in his head, but House disregarded her and just pressed his lips harder against Cuddy's.

Of course this is what he wanted, ever since the night he had kissed Cuddy all those months ago. What type of question was that? And why the hell did Amber have to be in his head now?

Well, maybe she would get a thrill out of it…

"I know this isn't what you want."

Cuddy's hands were now scrabbling at his clothes, trying to pull his T-shirt off. She made a noise of frustration that vibrated in to his own mouth when her actions were impeded by their constant kissing. House swallowed a laugh at that and slowly pulled back from her, his hands untangling from her hair and moving to the hem of his shirt. He opened his eyes to look down at her spread on the bed underneath him…and he froze in shock.

"I'm you. I know what you really want."

Because Lisa Cuddy was not looking back at him.

"Wilson?" he murmured in surprise, his right hand extending and skating shaking fingers across the other man's cheek.

James Wilson opened his eyes and stared up at House through dilated brown eyes filled with an emotion House couldn't bear to think about. His short brown hair was as tousled as it could be and his shirt was gone, allowing House to gaze upon his naked chest, heaving with each breath he took in. House watched in fascination as his tongue slowly extended and licked along his red and swollen lips, sparking a desire in House that he never knew existed.

"Don't stop now," Wilson said with a small huff before reaching up and gripping House's hair so he could guide his head back down.

And before House could utter any protest or put up any resistance, he found himself kissing his best, and very male, friend.

And-oh, God-if this kiss wasn't ten times hotter than any kiss he had been sharing with Cuddy. Lips sliding against his, a tongue tangling with his own, Wilson making little noises in the back of his throat, and a taste that was completely unfamiliar, but pure Wilson.

This was heat, and passion, and everything he hadn't realized he'd been missing with Cuddy. This was what he wanted; this was what he needed. Hadn't he always needed Wilson anyway?

House's thought process then shut down and all he managed to do was feel. He forgot about Cuddy and the stupid dance they had engaged in for months. He forgot about Kutner and the utter blow his death had caused. He forgot about how Amber had returned, albeit only in his head, and now followed him around insistently. He could only think about Wilson and how utterly right this felt despite having barely entertained the thought before.

He managed to pull his lips away from Wilson's so he could look down at the other man again and drag in some desperately needed air. Wilson was panting as hard as he was and House realized he had never seen him this undone before and knowing that he was the one causing that look made his arousal heighten.

House began to place kisses down Wilson's throat. Wilson simply tugged on his hair in response and moaned, arching in to the touch.

"House," Wilson whispered in his ear. "House…please."

House simply smirked and continued with trailing kisses down Wilson's neck, his hands also sliding lower and lower down his ribcage. Wilson let out a groan of impatience at the slow pace House was setting and bucked his hips up to try and gain more contact. House's smirked widened and his fingertips grazed the top of Wilson's boxers…

"House!"

Jerking back his hands in shock at the sudden change in timbre to the voice, House sat up fully. Turning his head to the left, House glared at Amber, who was sitting in the chair by his bed, her legs crossed and a small grin on her face.

"That "unconscious desire" you mentioned before? I think it just officially became conscious. I guess it was only a matter of time for you to figure it out and listen to your subconscious." Amber then raised an eyebrow, a challenging glint in her blue eyes. "Now, what are you going to do about it?"

House quickly looked back down at the bed, but there was nothing but empty sheets staring back at him. His stomach clenched in dread as his mind finally grasped just what exactly had been going on and what he had been deliberately ignoring up until that moment. He slowly sank down on to his stomach, burying his face in the pillow and ignoring the sudden throb of pain that his leg was giving him.

"Go away," he muttered.

"I'm thinking we need to have a talk," Amber continued, amusement clearly in her tone. "And I'm not going away. Not yet anyway."

House ignored her though, turning his face away and closing his eyes tightly. If he concentrated hard enough, he could still smell Wilson on the pillow case and taste him on his tongue.