Work Text:
It had been 19 years. 19 years since House saw Wilson at that medical convention in New Orleans where he later bailed him out of jail for starting a bar fight. Years later, their friendship was somehow just as- if not more strong than it was before.
Other people around the hospital took notice of the fact that Wilson seemed particularly loyal to House, and House liked to test that loyalty.
House was in his office, off to the side of his desk quietly in thought while the team discussed a case. Thirteen took notice of House’s particularly quiet demeanor and made the brave decision to speak up.
Clearing her throat, she stared at House. “You’ve been strangely quiet today.. Run out of comments to throw at us yet?”
“Not yet,” House said back, looking off to the side before making eye contact with the team. “I’m planning my anniversary gift to Wilson.”
“Anniversary?” Foreman asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah, did you guys secretly get married or something?” Thirteen continued as she looked at House.
House sighed as he started to absentmindedly twirl his cane. “Wrong again. It’s the anniversary of our first meeting, so I’m planning my present..” With a pause, he looked around and got up from his desk to leave the room.
“Not ominous at all, right..” Thirteen said sarcastically with a sigh as she watched House leave the room before focusing her attention back on the case with the rest of the team.
About three hours later while House was eating lunch, Wilson was entering his own office, only to be met with the loud sound of the song “Leave A Tender Moment Alone” by Billy Joel playing from some unknown spot in his office.
“What the..?” He mumbled out loud. Listening closer, he recognized the song and the realization of what day it was hit him. Though it did make Wilson smile a bit, the thought of the song and the original memory of it made his annoyance come back. He exhaled loudly as he listened for the source of the sound, finding his own laptop hidden underneath his couch with seemingly no way to stop or pause the looped song. “Sh- ugh.. House!”
Minutes later, House watched as Wilson approached him angrily in the cafeteria. “Oh, Hey, hon. What’s up?”
Wilson nearly fumbled over himself at the sound of the joking nickname, but he quickly regained his composure and gave House and eye roll as he began to speak. “You know what. What the hell did you do to my laptop?”
House put a hand in his chin, pretending to be deep in thought for a moment before giving Wilson a faux-serious look. “I have no clue what you’re talking about. Or are you talking about what Thirteen did to your laptop? I told her not to do anything too annoying.. or maybe I did. No clue, bad memory.”
Wilson’s annoyance only grew more as he heard House’s explanation. He exhaled loudly again as he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down at House. “Well.. can you get her to fix it?”
“Nope.” House replied with a sarcastic frown and sigh as he got up from his seat and looked at Wilson, “I already asked her for one thing today. You, my friend, have to ask her to fix your laptop.” As he walked away, Wilson had to decide between following him and strangling him for being a pain in the ass, or do what he said and go beg Thirteen to fix his laptop. He reluctantly chose the latter.
After somehow convincing her to fix his laptop, Wilson decided to tell Thirteen the story behind the song and why House picked it to annoy, yet charm, Wilson on their little “anniversary”, in case House didn’t inform her already. So there Wilson and Thirteen were, chatting about House and Wilson’s “friendship” over time. In a moment of brief silence, Thirteen spoke up again. “It is kind of fun watching you two argue and act like you hate each other. It’s kind of cute.” Wilson just huffed out a laugh as he went on with their normal conversation, but he kept Thirteen’s words in the back of his mind..
As the work day came to a close, Wilson and House walked out of the hospital together. Wilson held onto his coat tightly as he tilted his head up a bit to watch a leaf fall from a tree. A small, content sigh left his mouth as he turned to look at House. “Y’know.. I was talking with Thirteen a bit when she was fixing my laptop. She called our arguing ‘cute’.”
House scoffed as he started to walk with Wilson towards the parking lot, “She does have a way with words, doesn't she?” he said sarcastically.
Wilson laughed for a moment or so as Thirteen's words from earlier ran in his head. He began speaking in a somewhat softer tone as the two began to walk through the parking lot. “Maybe she's right. Our arguments, specifically on your side.. can be a little annoyingly stupid sometimes. Could be perceived as cute.”
The conversation between the two went silent for a moment as they approached their respective sides of the car, but Wilson spoke up just as he was about to open his door. He looked up at House with a small smile.
“Happy anniversary, House.”
House looked up at Wilson, giving a small smile as well.
“Happy anniversary, Wilson."