Chapter Text
House had really tried not to cause trouble. Really. He tried distracting himself by all kinds of bets with his ducklings, for example he made a bet on a patient lying about cheating – he actually admitted to it right away which was more suspicious than denying it – and also made a bet with Chase whether he could last a day without Vicodin. It wasn't his lucky day as he had lost both: the patient was truly cheating and wasn't poly or in an open relationship as House had suspected, as for the Vicodin, he could only last two and a half hours before the pain became too annoying. However, most of all, he did not bother Stacy even once since she came back. Well, that was only a week ago, but House didn't bother her at all for that time, so he should receive the praise for the effort should he not?
30 dollars poorer, he visited his only remaining outlet around lunchtime: Wilson. As he sat with him, Wilson looked up from his meal nonchalantly and pushed a soda in front of House, as if he had prepared for this.
“What did you do this time?”
“Can’t I have lunch with my bestie?”
“Without specifically making me pay for your meal? No, I don't think you are capable. What did you do with Stacy?”
“Relax, I haven't done anything,” House said, sipping his soda and taking an extra vicodin, for good measure. “I haven't even seen her.”
“Avoiding her is as unhealthy as stalking her, you know.”
“Is nothing good enough for you? I’m starting to see why your wives got the heebers jeebers from you.”
“House.”
“Oh right, it was the cheating,” House corrected, Wilson just rolled his eyes and he didn't even bother stopping House from taking half of his sandwich. “Too soon?”
“I know you like thinking of yourself as some unsolvable puzzle but you can't surprise me anymore.”
House could argue about that, but with his current anti-luck streak, he bit his tongue and didn't say “bet”. He didn't need to say anything, as Wilson continued lecturing him.
“Seriously, you can't just avoid her either, you ought to meet at some point,” Wilson added.
It was true, nothing was good enough for these idiots anymore. Don't talk to Stacy, don't even think about Stacy, while simultaneously not avoiding Stacy. He was a genius, of course, but he wasn't some superhuman to be capable of all that. House started thinking that people actually wanted him to act out, and Cuddy only used reverse psychology by telling him to leave Stacy alone.
With everyone expecting him to do something wild, how could he disappoint? Where was the fun in not trying to win Stacy back? Or at least make her feel terrible for breaking his heart, twice.
“Then how come I have never met her since she returned?” House asked, to tease Wilson.
“Because you are avoiding her more than your patients.”
“I am not.”
“Sure, whatever you say,” agreed Wilson, but his voice was flat and sarcastic. Then he changed the topic, leaning back in his chair. “You have been calmer since she returned, in these past few days.”
“What are you getting at? Didn't we just discuss how I am unhealthily avoiding her?” House raised his brow, taking a bite out of the sandwich piece he took from Wilson.
“But you know she is back, that could also have an effect on your mood.”
“Hm.” House looked away, pretending to think. “No, I think it's because you used my bed the week before, and now it smells like you and your products, and I'm constantly high from the chemicals your body evaporated onto my room.”
“You weren't using it,” Wilson shrugged. “It’s called washing your sheets more than once a year.”
“That's a waste of time and money,” House stood up and pushed the chair back under the table. Wilson looked at him confused.
“Where are you going?”
“To bother Stacy, naturally. You just said I cannot avoid her, and she just entered the cafeteria.” House nudged his head towards Stacy, grinned at Wilson, and walked to Stacy’s side, who was very calm about her ex husband approaching her.
“A week, I am actually impressed,” said Stacy, with a small smile on her face.
“Hello to you too,” replied House with fake annoyment. “I was told to try to win you back.”
“I strongly doubt anyone told you that.”
“Maybe I just wanted to do it. We could catch up outside work, have some drinks and a nice meal somewhere.”
“Greg, are you inviting me on a date?” Stacy chuckled.
“Why not?”
Stacy laughed lightly again, placing her hand on top of House’s, patting it gently.
“You know we don't work.”
“I am a changed man now, I will even pay for the restaurant. It's a deal just for you, just now.”
“We can catch up, but it is not a date. And I am choosing the place.”
House pondered for a second, before nodding.
“Okay.” His beeper went off, so he rolled his eyes. “How awful timing. I will see you later”. Stacy nodded at him with a smile, then House left, wondering what his subordinates had done this time. But he was also thinking about Stacy.
It was so, SO easy, and they had such a nice conversation without Stacy lashing out at him, or trying to dismiss him. She even agreed to meet him, and even though she said it wasn't a date, House knew women often didn't mean “no” when they said no, it usually meant “not yet” or “please chase me more”. So House's odds turned, his day finally turning lucky.
Why didn't he feel excited then?
***
Stacy and House met after work, in a small café that Stacy had chosen. Definitely not a usual date-spot, but hey it wasn’t mcdonalds! In conclusion, Stacy was still totally into him. House wore a smug smile on his face, while sipping a decaf coffee as Stacy didn’t let him drink a proper one. Stacy noticed his good mood, and thus was delighted as well.
“What happened?” she asked, after they chatted a bit about trivial matters, and cases.
“When?” House asked, confused.
“I’m not sure about that…” Stacy smiled and laughed awkwardly a bit, looking away for a second. “You just seem calm. Happy, even?” her eyes squinted into thin lines, trying to read House, looking for an answer.
“Wilson says it’s because you are back.”
“And you are actually listening to him? That isn’t much like you.”
“No, I am not listening to him. I’m no different than how I was before,” House paused for a second. “Except with you, I am a changed man.”
“Uh-huh,” Stacy smiled, amused. If she hadn’t known better, she would have assumed House started dating someone, or at least found someone to pursue. While he seemed glad to talk with her again, and did act like he wanted to date her, Stacy already knew House’s courting rituals, and this was not it. He was never this open, so Stacy knew he was just having fun, and doing it for the love of the game. But she had no clue about what made him be in a good mood, instead of accusing Stacy about being ableist or being a bitch. All she knew is that it was not the leg, as House still massaged his knee at times, which was a way of pretending no pain was there. Mark also used to do that, saying that he is imagining the sensations are elsewhere, as neither could bear actually touching their injury.
Two men stepped into the café, and Stacy looked up as she heard the two men laugh. To her surprise, one of them spoke to them directly, smiling.
“Dr House, is that you?”
House turned in his chair, his face expressionless but Stacy could tell he wasn’t annoyed.
“Look at that, my two gayest patients. Are you cheating on your wife right now?” House wasn’t exactly the best at starting a normal conversation.
“Greg!” Stacy warned quietly, but the man waved and smiled at her.
“It’s okay, he is messing with me, we are friends.” The man said.
Stacy looked at the man, then House, then back at the man. He had a warm smile and friendly eyes with a trustworthy look, like a teddy bear. In conclusion: he likely wasn’t being paid to do this. Or was he? However, she recognized the other guy, who was House’s neighbour. As House never retained good relationships with neighbours, Stacy knew that these people weren’t paid actors.
“You have friends?” Stacy asked, with curiosity in her voice, mixed with doubt that she couldn’t hide.
“Ouch?” replied House while pretending to be heartbroken about the accusation. “He is gay number one, and he is gay number 2,” House introduced, but the two men took that into their own hands.
“It’s actually Kalvin, and Craig,” explained House’s neighbour, first pointing at himself, then the other guy. Stacy shook their hands politely, only half believing everything. “We will leave you alone, but I will be telling your closet case that you are cheating while he is waiting for you at home,” he joked with House.
House, not missing a beat, nor explaining, replied.
“He will be glad that he can hog the bed again, so you can tell him whatever you want, I am busy. B-U-S-Y. Bye-bye,” he waved, and the two men left, Craig still laughing as they went to order. “I hope they won’t sleep with each other, one already has aids.”
Stacy wasn’t surprised that House kept no medical boundaries. She also wasn’t surprised about the friendship anymore, someone essentially dying did fit the profile of someone who would interest House. However, there was something interesting that buried itself in her mind.
“Do you and James live together?” she asked, and House shrugged, taking a bit out of his donut.
“Another divorce.”
“I see,” Stacy nodded, with equations working non-stop in her mind. Well, the answer was clear after all: with Wilson and House being flatmates, he likely had a more healthy routine now, and was eating proper meals. She might thank Wilson later, as House might have been her ex husband, but she still cared about him as a friend.
***
As if the universe wanted to mess with House, he got an incredibly tedious case the next day. It was very simple, the disease showed itself as soon as House induced an allergic reaction to show that the patient was not having an allergic reaction prior. However, his subordinates insisted on doing a bunch of tests, and the patient also insisted that she never cheated. What was with cheaters this month?
With having nothing to do, he visited his patient to surprise his ducklings by treating her before they even figured out what the issue was. And to harass her about cheating, naturally. He administered the treatment, and thus treated her, but she still stubbornly denied cheating, and told House that he was an asshole. That was when the patient’s boyfriend interjected, and escorted House out of the room. As House wanted to leave, another girl – House had no idea who she was to the patient – called out for him.
“Could she get it if it was Trevor to cheat?” she asked, and House raised his brow, interested.
“Veronica, don’t—” the boyfriend tried to protest, but the girl was determined.
“Could she?” she asked again, with a guilty look in her eyes.
“So it was you,” House replied, realizing what the situation was. Boyfriend cheated with his girlfriend's close friend, what a Romeo. “You both knew he cheated, and you still allowed me to blame the innocent? I hate it when the patient doesn’t lie, but the stupid family members do. Had you been a little more honest, we could have given her the meds and you could be on your merry way. Instead, we are wasting each other’s time. Or, you know, she could have died.” House shrugged, mentioning fatality as if it was on par with an annoying rash.
“That isn’t it! We just didn’t know we were in love,” the boyfriend said in defense. “Veronica was my best friend, how was I supposed to know?”
“I-di-ot!” House emphasized. “Seriously, how could you not realize that you were in love with…” suddenly he trailed off, not finishing his sentence, with widened eyes. He turned, and walked back to his office. His personal questions suddenly gained answers, proving that even stupid patient-visitors can be useful sometimes. As he wanted to ask “how could you not realize that you were in love with someone else?”, he knew that there was only one plausible reason for him to not be excited about Stacy, and only feeling pleasant with her, not happy: He didn’t love her. It had to be somebody else, as House remembered he hadn’t been with hookers either for a while either. If he wasn’t in love with anyone, he would definitely have one night stands on his mind.
Who could it be though?
House sat down in his office, tossing his tennis ball up and down, and swaying in his chair from time to time. There weren’t many people close to him, so there weren’t many candidates. Especially women. So the list narrowed to Cameron and Cuddy… Cuddy did have a nice body, and she was fun to annoy, but when House thought about it, she wasn’t much more than that, she mostly cared about House academically, for the Hospital, not because they were friends or anything. He wasn’t an idiot, so he wouldn’t have fallen in love with someone ‘political’ like her. That left Cameron.
Cameron did show interest in him for a while, they even went on a date, and she didn’t seem to mind House’s bad qualities. She put a lot of care into him, even if only out of pity, as broken seemed to be her type. But when someone shows you a lot of care, any normal person would fall for someone gentle, be it a man or a woman. If it worked three times for Wilson, why wouldn’t the same work for Cameron? She was the logical answer.
House hadn’t noticed how much time left, as he was pretty zoned out, but the sky went dark while he was sitting there. The ducklings stood outside his door, flocking together and whispering.
“He never stays in late,” frowned Foreman. “We definitely missed something.”
“The patient was fine though, and she had what House suspected from the very beginning,” reasoned Cameron.
“We should probably go home while we can,” suggested Chase. “He is probably thinking about how to win Staqcy back. If he notices us, he will drag us into it.”
“I’m with you brother,” said Foreman, putting his palm over Chase’s shoulder.
“Don’t call me that, it’s weird,” frowned Chase, but Foreman just laughed and walked towards the elevator, pressing the call button. “Coming or not?” Chase nodded, but Cameron still stood in the hallway.
“If it’s personal, shouldn’t we help him?” she asked, with worry written all over her eyes, and the way she pouted.
“Would House help you, if you had some internal crisis?” asked Chase. “Come on, let’s go.” he waved his hand towards Cameron urging her to hurry. Cameron looked back at House, one more time, as the elevator arrived, so she too, decided to leave House to go through the process of epiphany alone.