So Long and Goodnight ; part one.
TITLE: So Long and Goodnight.
AUTHOR: hug_a_wookiee
PAIRING: House/Wilson, established.
RATING: We'll go with PG on this one.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own them. Never will... dammit.
Sitting in the passenger seat of his silver Volvo, Wilson was dead silent. Though his head was leaning against the window, House knew that he wasn’t sleeping. The driver knew this for more than one reason. First off, his partner wasn’t lightly snoring, like House knew he did when he had finally drifted off into slumber. And then there was the fact that Wilson found it hard to sleep when something that effected him emotionally happened. And a few hours ago, something had definitely affected him. Probably more than anything else in his life had. He was trying not to show it, though, and House had respect for the man. It was hard news to take.
James Wilson had been awoken at about five thirty in the morning when his cell phone had started ringing. House had been lying on his chest, so he had to move him in order to get to the phone on the side table. He had answered and moved back into a comfortable position. Also being forced awake, House placed his head back on his lover’s chest, trying to also make himself comfortable again. House could tell that the conversation wasn’t a good one for more than one reason. Not only was the tone of Wilson’s voice getting more monotone with every word, but why else would someone call so early in the morning on both of their days off?
He didn’t say anything when he hung up the phone. This kind of concerned House, because Wilson obviously knew that it had woken him up, and he would have normally said something to tell him it was okay to go back to sleep. Though he rarely needed it, Wilson was always sure to give it. Without much movement, House opened his eyes and looked up at his partner. He looked as though he was being scolded and was trying to keep his emotions in check. Something was obviously wrong with the man. His jaw was clenched and he was staring straight forward into the darkness. Normally, House wouldn’t say anything and he would let the man work things out on his own, like he always did. But there was something that made him want to see if Wilson was okay. But he decided to keep it simple. “Are you alright?” House asked, not moving his head from the other man’s chest. Silence was the only response that House received.
A few hours later, the two of them were in the car and driving to upstate New York for Aubrey Wilson’s funeral. While the actual funeral wasn’t for a few days, Wilson had wanted to go see the rest of his family, as a form of comfort in his mother’s death. He had asked House to accompany him on the trip, and for once, House put up no fight. Wilson had called Cuddy and informed her of what was going on, and let her know that both he and House were not going to be in for a few days. She had complied, saying that it was no problem. She was surprised by the way Wilson was handling things. He showed no emotion the whole time he was talking about his mother. He didn’t want to let one sign of weakness show, for fear that everything would spill out.
Even now, as he sat in the car with his head against the window, he tried not to think about everything that was going on. He thought, trying to keep his mind occupied, that he now knew how House felt almost every day when talking to people, trying not to let his true emotions show. It was much harder than House made it look. He had barely said a word to House, and though he didn’t voice it, it was kind up upsetting him. House wished that Wilson would open up just a little bit. He was always complaining that House never wanted to talk. And now that House would be willing to listen, he wasn’t talking.
The quiet was really starting to get on House’s nerves, so he decided to turn on the radio to drown out the silence. He turned it on a jazz station, figuring that Wilson wouldn’t mind it too much, and so they would both… enjoy it, to an extent. As he drove on, he moved his fingers along the steering wheel as though he were pressing piano keys. And without realizing it, he had managed to lull Wilson to sleep with the soft and familiar sounds of the light jazz tunes.
* * *
Wilson had woken up a few minutes before they got to the house in which he had grown up in. The radio station had been changed to a classic rock channel, but he didn’t mind. He looked out the window, and House noticed the slight movement. “’Morning, sunshine,” he greeted, trying to lighten the mood just the slightest bit. But he knew he had been defeated when Wilson just nodded in reply. House gave an audible sigh and kept his eyes ahead of him, knowing that they were almost there.
When they pulled up to the house, both House and Wilson realized that there were many cars parked around the house and in the driveway. That meant that there had to be quite a few people from the family there already. Wilson got out of the car without saying a word and smoothed his clothes out. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with yellow sleeves that he had had since he was a senior in high school. He really hadn’t felt like dressing up any, though he brought his nicer clothes for the actual funeral. Was he going to be able to deal with all of these family members? He decided to put on a brave face and hold his emotions in for as long as possible.
House had popped the trunk and started grabbing bags out of the trunk. He had been to the house before and knew that there were quite a few rooms, and he also knew that he and Wilson were staying there while in New York. Wilson had wanted to rent a hotel, but his dad had insisted that they stay in the house. He had only been there once before, but he knew the layout of the house quite well. The last time the two of them had been there, Wilson had decided to come out of the closet to his parents. They had taken it pretty well, whereas House’s parents, if they were ever told, would probably throw a fit and kick both him and Wilson out on the streets. 'And that’s why I don’t plan on telling my parents…' House thought to himself.
Wilson had grabbed a duffel bag out of the back and was walking towards the house, up the familiar way he had gone so many times during his first eighteen years of life. He knew House wouldn’t have a problem walking into the house without Wilson directly next to him, so he decided not to wait for him to catch up those few feet. Before opening the door, Wilson took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his emotions in. He didn’t want to look weak. He faced death every day! He was an Oncologist, after all, right? But it was much harder to deal with when you knew the person personally. Especially when you knew them as personally as one did their mother.
When he opened the door, Wilson felt all of the eyes fall on him. Many of the people stood up and made their way towards him, his oldest brother, Daniel, in the lead. Wilson dropped the bag beside his feet and met his brother in a warm embrace. Feeling the contact of his brother brought the walls down, and he just broke. He began to weep into his older brother’s neck with his arms wrapped tightly around him in a much needed hug. This was something that he hadn’t done in a long time. The last time he had cried was probably when he found out that his last wife had cheated on him, at least a year ago. And that wasn’t even all that bad. There had only been a few teardrops that night. But now, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stop.
Daniel didn’t say a word to his baby brother. He just let him cry like when he was younger. He had figured that James would take it really hard. He had been the closest to their mother out of the three of them. He really didn’t know why, but it was true. It might have been because he was the youngest, but he wasn’t positive. “It’s alright, James…” He said softly, trying to comfort him.
Daniel noticed that someone had walked in behind his brother. Without moving from the position, Dan used his eyes to tell one of the cousins to take the guy upstairs. He figured that it was probably House, the man his brother was living with. He knew that James was gay, and it didn’t really bother him anymore. At first, he was surprised and found it a little bit disturbing, but he got over it. And even if he was still a bit disturbed, he wasn’t going to bring it up now when James was so obviously distraught.
* * *
House watched as one of Wilson’s family members walked towards him. Great! He would be stuck unpacking and shit while Wilson had a nice cry-fest. Taking a deep breath, House tried to be reasonable. His mother had just died. So maybe now wasn’t the best time to be insensitive (Especially if he wanted to get any for the next few days). House tried not to smirk when he heard the guy talk. He spoke with a pure New York accent. It was kind of funny. Especially since he was related to Wilson, who you would never guess grew up here. The guy was kind of tall, at least as tall as House, if not a little taller, and had black hair. His eyebrows were thin, so House figured that the eyebrows must have come from Wilson’s dad side of the family, seeing as Wilson’s brother had them too.
House obliged to going upstairs, but decided that he wasn’t going to unpack. He would throw the stuff on the bed and take a nap while Wilson got talking with his family. He wasn’t really sure if he wanted to deal with a bunch of his relatives. One Wilson was bad enough at times. He could just imagine the lectures that would come from all of them downstairs.
House had had enough silence. “So, was Wilson a sissy growing up? Did you ever… throw any punches at him?” House asked, his way of breaking the silence. The cousin turned and grinned at him. It was obvious that he was carrying his emotions much better than Wilson was. But then again, Wilson seemed to be an emotion stew just waiting to boil over. This was just an excuse to let everything out.
“I hit him a few times.” The New York native said with a smirk. It was obvious that he would have to talk to this guy a little later… and maybe some of the other relatives around Wilson’s age. They could probably give him a ton of dirt on the guy that he could use as blackmail later. ‘Maybe this trip won’t be so bad after all,’ House thought to himself.
When he entered the room that he was obviously going to be staying in, House let out an audible snicker. The guy who had led him up was already heading back down the stairs. It was obvious that this room had once been Wilson’s. The bed was made and it was clean, but that was probably the only thing that had changed over the years (House had a theory that Wilson had once been an extremely messy person). There were posters on the walls of various bands including Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue, Pink Floyd, and even Velvet Underground. And then there were posters of movies such as Star Wars, that one made House actually laugh out loud, Animal House, and there was an Alfred Hitchcock poster. There were also various pictures on the walls, which House just had to look at. One of them was him with a girl, and he looked pretty comfy next to her. It was obviously an old girlfriend. There were pictures of him with other random people, probably friends or something like them, and a few pictures of his family. House noticed that the cousin who had led him upstairs wasn’t on the wall anywhere…
AUTHOR: hug_a_wookiee
PAIRING: House/Wilson, established.
RATING: We'll go with PG on this one.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own them. Never will... dammit.
Sitting in the passenger seat of his silver Volvo, Wilson was dead silent. Though his head was leaning against the window, House knew that he wasn’t sleeping. The driver knew this for more than one reason. First off, his partner wasn’t lightly snoring, like House knew he did when he had finally drifted off into slumber. And then there was the fact that Wilson found it hard to sleep when something that effected him emotionally happened. And a few hours ago, something had definitely affected him. Probably more than anything else in his life had. He was trying not to show it, though, and House had respect for the man. It was hard news to take.
James Wilson had been awoken at about five thirty in the morning when his cell phone had started ringing. House had been lying on his chest, so he had to move him in order to get to the phone on the side table. He had answered and moved back into a comfortable position. Also being forced awake, House placed his head back on his lover’s chest, trying to also make himself comfortable again. House could tell that the conversation wasn’t a good one for more than one reason. Not only was the tone of Wilson’s voice getting more monotone with every word, but why else would someone call so early in the morning on both of their days off?
He didn’t say anything when he hung up the phone. This kind of concerned House, because Wilson obviously knew that it had woken him up, and he would have normally said something to tell him it was okay to go back to sleep. Though he rarely needed it, Wilson was always sure to give it. Without much movement, House opened his eyes and looked up at his partner. He looked as though he was being scolded and was trying to keep his emotions in check. Something was obviously wrong with the man. His jaw was clenched and he was staring straight forward into the darkness. Normally, House wouldn’t say anything and he would let the man work things out on his own, like he always did. But there was something that made him want to see if Wilson was okay. But he decided to keep it simple. “Are you alright?” House asked, not moving his head from the other man’s chest. Silence was the only response that House received.
A few hours later, the two of them were in the car and driving to upstate New York for Aubrey Wilson’s funeral. While the actual funeral wasn’t for a few days, Wilson had wanted to go see the rest of his family, as a form of comfort in his mother’s death. He had asked House to accompany him on the trip, and for once, House put up no fight. Wilson had called Cuddy and informed her of what was going on, and let her know that both he and House were not going to be in for a few days. She had complied, saying that it was no problem. She was surprised by the way Wilson was handling things. He showed no emotion the whole time he was talking about his mother. He didn’t want to let one sign of weakness show, for fear that everything would spill out.
Even now, as he sat in the car with his head against the window, he tried not to think about everything that was going on. He thought, trying to keep his mind occupied, that he now knew how House felt almost every day when talking to people, trying not to let his true emotions show. It was much harder than House made it look. He had barely said a word to House, and though he didn’t voice it, it was kind up upsetting him. House wished that Wilson would open up just a little bit. He was always complaining that House never wanted to talk. And now that House would be willing to listen, he wasn’t talking.
The quiet was really starting to get on House’s nerves, so he decided to turn on the radio to drown out the silence. He turned it on a jazz station, figuring that Wilson wouldn’t mind it too much, and so they would both… enjoy it, to an extent. As he drove on, he moved his fingers along the steering wheel as though he were pressing piano keys. And without realizing it, he had managed to lull Wilson to sleep with the soft and familiar sounds of the light jazz tunes.
* * *
Wilson had woken up a few minutes before they got to the house in which he had grown up in. The radio station had been changed to a classic rock channel, but he didn’t mind. He looked out the window, and House noticed the slight movement. “’Morning, sunshine,” he greeted, trying to lighten the mood just the slightest bit. But he knew he had been defeated when Wilson just nodded in reply. House gave an audible sigh and kept his eyes ahead of him, knowing that they were almost there.
When they pulled up to the house, both House and Wilson realized that there were many cars parked around the house and in the driveway. That meant that there had to be quite a few people from the family there already. Wilson got out of the car without saying a word and smoothed his clothes out. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with yellow sleeves that he had had since he was a senior in high school. He really hadn’t felt like dressing up any, though he brought his nicer clothes for the actual funeral. Was he going to be able to deal with all of these family members? He decided to put on a brave face and hold his emotions in for as long as possible.
House had popped the trunk and started grabbing bags out of the trunk. He had been to the house before and knew that there were quite a few rooms, and he also knew that he and Wilson were staying there while in New York. Wilson had wanted to rent a hotel, but his dad had insisted that they stay in the house. He had only been there once before, but he knew the layout of the house quite well. The last time the two of them had been there, Wilson had decided to come out of the closet to his parents. They had taken it pretty well, whereas House’s parents, if they were ever told, would probably throw a fit and kick both him and Wilson out on the streets. 'And that’s why I don’t plan on telling my parents…' House thought to himself.
Wilson had grabbed a duffel bag out of the back and was walking towards the house, up the familiar way he had gone so many times during his first eighteen years of life. He knew House wouldn’t have a problem walking into the house without Wilson directly next to him, so he decided not to wait for him to catch up those few feet. Before opening the door, Wilson took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his emotions in. He didn’t want to look weak. He faced death every day! He was an Oncologist, after all, right? But it was much harder to deal with when you knew the person personally. Especially when you knew them as personally as one did their mother.
When he opened the door, Wilson felt all of the eyes fall on him. Many of the people stood up and made their way towards him, his oldest brother, Daniel, in the lead. Wilson dropped the bag beside his feet and met his brother in a warm embrace. Feeling the contact of his brother brought the walls down, and he just broke. He began to weep into his older brother’s neck with his arms wrapped tightly around him in a much needed hug. This was something that he hadn’t done in a long time. The last time he had cried was probably when he found out that his last wife had cheated on him, at least a year ago. And that wasn’t even all that bad. There had only been a few teardrops that night. But now, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stop.
Daniel didn’t say a word to his baby brother. He just let him cry like when he was younger. He had figured that James would take it really hard. He had been the closest to their mother out of the three of them. He really didn’t know why, but it was true. It might have been because he was the youngest, but he wasn’t positive. “It’s alright, James…” He said softly, trying to comfort him.
Daniel noticed that someone had walked in behind his brother. Without moving from the position, Dan used his eyes to tell one of the cousins to take the guy upstairs. He figured that it was probably House, the man his brother was living with. He knew that James was gay, and it didn’t really bother him anymore. At first, he was surprised and found it a little bit disturbing, but he got over it. And even if he was still a bit disturbed, he wasn’t going to bring it up now when James was so obviously distraught.
* * *
House watched as one of Wilson’s family members walked towards him. Great! He would be stuck unpacking and shit while Wilson had a nice cry-fest. Taking a deep breath, House tried to be reasonable. His mother had just died. So maybe now wasn’t the best time to be insensitive (Especially if he wanted to get any for the next few days). House tried not to smirk when he heard the guy talk. He spoke with a pure New York accent. It was kind of funny. Especially since he was related to Wilson, who you would never guess grew up here. The guy was kind of tall, at least as tall as House, if not a little taller, and had black hair. His eyebrows were thin, so House figured that the eyebrows must have come from Wilson’s dad side of the family, seeing as Wilson’s brother had them too.
House obliged to going upstairs, but decided that he wasn’t going to unpack. He would throw the stuff on the bed and take a nap while Wilson got talking with his family. He wasn’t really sure if he wanted to deal with a bunch of his relatives. One Wilson was bad enough at times. He could just imagine the lectures that would come from all of them downstairs.
House had had enough silence. “So, was Wilson a sissy growing up? Did you ever… throw any punches at him?” House asked, his way of breaking the silence. The cousin turned and grinned at him. It was obvious that he was carrying his emotions much better than Wilson was. But then again, Wilson seemed to be an emotion stew just waiting to boil over. This was just an excuse to let everything out.
“I hit him a few times.” The New York native said with a smirk. It was obvious that he would have to talk to this guy a little later… and maybe some of the other relatives around Wilson’s age. They could probably give him a ton of dirt on the guy that he could use as blackmail later. ‘Maybe this trip won’t be so bad after all,’ House thought to himself.
When he entered the room that he was obviously going to be staying in, House let out an audible snicker. The guy who had led him up was already heading back down the stairs. It was obvious that this room had once been Wilson’s. The bed was made and it was clean, but that was probably the only thing that had changed over the years (House had a theory that Wilson had once been an extremely messy person). There were posters on the walls of various bands including Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue, Pink Floyd, and even Velvet Underground. And then there were posters of movies such as Star Wars, that one made House actually laugh out loud, Animal House, and there was an Alfred Hitchcock poster. There were also various pictures on the walls, which House just had to look at. One of them was him with a girl, and he looked pretty comfy next to her. It was obviously an old girlfriend. There were pictures of him with other random people, probably friends or something like them, and a few pictures of his family. House noticed that the cousin who had led him upstairs wasn’t on the wall anywhere…