Mondays always bring me down

[dr_l_cuddy]

Who: Cuddy, open
Where: Cuddy's office
What: After her weekend at the resort
When: 9 am, Monday morning, 29 May

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[dr_j_wilson]

There was something slightly embarassing about walking through the hospital lobby with a stuffed bear that held a bright red helium balloon in its paws. Or maybe only Wilson would think that. Perhaps it was because the gift was belated, as was the birthday card he held under his arm. Both the bear and the card had been in his trunk for some time now; for the past week he'd either been too busy to leave his office or Cuddy was making her rounds when he got the chance to go see her. He felt bad about it, so maybe that's where the mild discomfort came from.

It wasn't just Cuddy's birthday that caused Wilson to head straight for her office that Monday morning, though. Ever since the discussion he'd had with House concerning the trial date he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. There was nothing comfortable about the situation and talking about it wasn't something he expected Cuddy to be thrilled over, but he intended to try anyway. What Wilson didn't intend to do was let her go through any of this alone. Even as independent as Cuddy was (or thought she was) Wilson knew this wasn't by any means easy for her.

He didn't go to his office first to put down his satchel or change into his coat, too set on making sure he didn't miss her. As he shuffled past a few patients crowded around the clinic desk, Wilson smiled at Brenda politely the way he always did. She smiled back at him and offered the teddy bear a curious glance. Wilson simply adjusted the strap of his satchel on his shoulder and turned toward Cuddy's office, then quietly knocked on her door with his free hand.

A quick glance through the glass showed her typing at her computer, so Wilson tucked the bear under his elbow and opened the door. "Morning," he greeted with a warm smile as he stood in the doorway. "Busy already? It's only five after." She didn't look terribly occupied but Wilson wasn't known to simply walk in and take a seat regardless of appearances. That was House's territory.

[dr_l_cuddy]

Cuddy sifted through her email. Amazing how much of that could accumulate over a single weekend, given that most doctors and administrators hadn't been at work. Eventually she'd read it all but for now she was simply pulling up the ones that seemed important. At least she didn't have to worry about getting any more emails from the creep. The no-contact order she'd gotten meant he couldn't contact her through any means, not unless he wanted to go straight back to jail.

"Hi, Wilson. Yeah, it's early, but no rest for the wicked, you know." She glanced over at him, then did a double take as her brain registered the bear and balloon. Not a usual sight, but she figured it was something for one of his cancer kids. Looking faintly amused, she gestured for him to come in. "What's up?"

[dr_j_wilson]

"I'm incredibly late, that's what's up," Wilson replied sheepishly as he walked forward. He flashed her an apologetic smile and set the bear on her desk, then propped the envelope in front of the bear before sitting himself down in one of her chairs.

He let out a sigh and fought with his satchel's strap for a moment. Once he untangled it from his coat and set it down next to the chair, he gave Cuddy a show of hands. "I know, I know. There's no excuse. An entire week I've had that in my car," he explained, pointing to the small gift as he spoke.

"There's just been cases and... cases, mostly. Still, I hope you had a very happy birthday and if you want I'll sing you an apology - although I might end up apologizing for my singing, afterwards."

[dr_l_cuddy]

"Thank you, but singing won't be necessary," Cuddy said, staring at the bear in a perplexed manner. Perplexed because she didn't understand why Wilson was bringing her a gift when he and House had already given her the weekend at the resort. Unless Wilson didn't know about that. But why wouldn't he know if he'd contributed to the gift? And if he didn't contribute, then why would House say it was from both of them?

"Sorry. I'm just...a little confused. House said...." She looked across the desk at Wilson, shaking her head as if that would clear the confusion away. "I just spent the weekend at a resort being completely pampered. It was gift from House. And--according to him--from you as well. So either you're over-indulging me this year or he lied."

[dr_j_wilson]

Wilson's lips formed a few silent vowels of confusion, his face blanking completely. Then his eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips, holding out his hand like he was about to slice through something with his fingers. He guestured as he spoke, not doing much but sputtering at first.

"You're saying... he-- wait, a resort? And he said..." Wilson shook his head, still looking slightly baffled but scoffing and smiling at Cuddy with embarassment at the same time. "We can stick to the over-indulging thing. I must've just forgotten about the, uh, pampering thing."

He looked at Cuddy with one eyebrow raised, his expression one that said 'House is an ass and that's the answer to every question', and raised both hands helplessly. Wilson felt like an idiot. And knew he looked like an idiot, too. He was torn between wanting to say he did know about this other gift, of course he did and knowing how stuck he was after what he'd already said about being late for her birthday.

Why in the world would House neglect to tell him he'd gotten Cuddy a gift from both of them? And, even moreso, he'd thought up a gift that involved a resort? Wilson glared at the ceiling and pulled his hand over his face, chewing on the side of his lower lip.

"He told you it-- that it came from us?" Wilson asked, still squinting and now pointing to himself. "As in... " More hand waving. "He and I?" He wasn't helping the whole 'idiot' thing, but trying to imagine House giving Cuddy some sort of Spa gift certificate and then saying From Wilson and me just made his head spin.

[dr_l_cuddy]

It was obvious to Cuddy that Wilson hadn't forgotten about the gift. He'd never been told about the gift. She sympathized with the way Wilson was feeling because heaven knew House had left her feeling the rug had been pulled out from under her feet plenty of times. The question was why had he done it to Wilson this time?

"That's what he said--from both of you," she confirmed. She reached out and brushed her fingers lightly over the soft plush of the teddy bear as she pondered the situation.

"I'd understand House tossing your name in if he'd been up to no good and was trying spread the blame. But why would he want to share the credit?" Normally House loved taking all the credit for himself.... Only this was not a diagnosis. This was House being kind, being compassionate, being nice of all things. He hated for anyone to see anything soft about him so in a twisted, House-only way it did make sense that he might try to deflect attention from himself.

"It never occurred to me to question it. He said you were in on it and that sounded reasonable to me." Cuddy gave Wilson a look that was half rueful, half amused, because she knew just how devious House could be, and how disrepectful of boundaries. "You might want to check your credit card acccount, though. Maybe you contributed more than you realize."

[dr_j_wilson]

Wilson glanced up at Cuddy and caught the slightly amused look on her face. He snorted, still at a loss but knowing how stuck he was, and shook his head. "That's very possible. If not highly likely," Wilson agreed, staring down at his fingernails thoughtfully. "And perfectly fine, to be honest. I really wish I could say it was partially my idea - sounds like it would be, all things considered."

He couldn't help the half-smile that was starting on his lips. "Which, I guess, explains why he didn't say a word to me about it. Or at least that's how his brain's wired."

It was a great gift and Wilson was sort of delighted that House had thought it up. He was also strangely touched that House had given to to Cuddy from the two of them.

If he'd just been able to enlighten Wilson on the matter, then everything would be peachy. Heaven forbid.

The small smile faded slightly and Wilson sighed, rolling his eyes once more and throwing his hand toward the bear. "Figures he'd upstage me at the worst possible time... just pretend that's not on your desk. Did you--" Wilson stopped to chuckle at the fact that he was the one asking this question. "Did you have a nice weekend?"

[dr_l_cuddy]

"Well, that's why I didn't question it--it did sound like something you'd suggest," Cuddy said. It certainly wasn't the type of gesture she expected from House even though she knew House was capable of being nice. It was just that--with House--the most you dared hope for were the small gestures. Wilson was much more likely to make the grand gesture, more likely to be the one to be overtly sympathetic and supportive. No wonder she hadn't questioned Wilson's involvement or knowledge of the weekend.

"Don't be silly. The bear is very sweet," she chided. The idea that the weekend was from both House and Wilson was so firmly fixed in her mind that the fact Wilson had given her something else was just a bonus. A gift was a gift and she took in the spirit in which it was intended.

"It was wonderful," she said, an almost blissful smile on her face as she relaxed just thinking about it. "I was utterly self-indulgent the entire time: massages, facials, manicures. I did it all. The only bad thing about the weekend was having to come home. When I pulled into my driveway last night, it kind of felt like my carriage had turned back into a pumpkin."

[dr_j_wilson]

Regardless whether Cuddy thought the stupid bear to be sweet, Wilson still felt like an idiot. He was distracted from that feeling for a moment when he saw Cuddy start to smile blissfully as she recounted what she did over the weekend. It was nice to see her smile like that - Wilson found himself starting to smile in response... and then realised her smile would've meant so much more to him if he'd actually been in on the gift House supposedly said was from both of them.

He felt a sudden stab of annoyance, perhaps resentment, that House had left him in the dark about this gift. He refused to show that on the outside, though; he kept his lips pulled into a smile until Cuddy went on to say about how it felt to return home.

He could identify with that last bit only too well. He'd felt the same way when he'd returned home after his weekend away with House in Atlantic City. He cleared his throat, pushing those uneasy thoughts away, and gave Cuddy a sympathetic look.

"Reality and gravity work on pretty much the same principle," he replied wryly. "What goes up must come down." He paused to give her another brief, thin-lipped smile. "It's good you had a good time, though. You clearly needed it after..." He lifted his hand and gave a vague gesture in the air. "You know. Everything that's happened."

Hearing himself say those words reminded him that House had said the exact same thing to him in bed the week before. Without realising it, the look on his face dropped into a frown. What had that been all about? House had gotten that awkward with him over this gift to Cuddy - was that it? But that didn't even make sense... did it? He remembered House had said he'd talked to Cuddy about the trial, but even that seemed off to Wilson. House had been clearly bothered about something, but Wilson just had no idea what that something was.

He darted his eyes back up to Cuddy when he realised his eyes had drifted in thought. He didn't want to ask Cuddy directly because he didn't want to burden her with any of his relationship issues with House, but the only way he might be able to discern exactly what was bothering House was if he asked Cuddy about what they'd talked about.

He decided to be oblique about it, though. "How is everything going?" he asked, pulling his face into a look of genuine concern.

[dr_l_cuddy]

"Yeah, tell me about it." Cuddy was all too aware of the way life liked to smack you down whenever you got to feeling good about yourself. She was trying, though, to not let reality get her down. Trying to not let it undo the good this past weekend had done. There was only so much she could do, but she knew a positive attitude would get her further than dwelling on the negatives. Which was why she tried not to think about the upcoming trial too much.

She sat at her desk, watching Wilson's face. He was easier to read than House, and he was obviously turning some things over in his mind, but she couldn't tell exactly what those things were. Except that he was obviously still somewhat disconcerted to find out about the gift House had given her.

"'Everything' is kind of a broad category," she said, her head tilted as she tried to decide if Wilson was merely asking out of general interest or if he had a more specific concern. Then again, such a broad category meant she could try to avoid topics she didn't want to discuss.

"Well, House and I haven't had an all out fight in over a week," she said with a wry smile. "That's an improvement."

[dr_j_wilson]

Wilson sat there, the look of concern frozen on his face as Cuddy's last words rang in his ears. They hadn't had a fight in over a week? Wilson shifted on his seat and blinked, suddenly feeling a little uneasy. House had said he'd gone to the bar to 'unwind' - from his meeting with Cuddy, according to him. He'd given the (somewhat vague) impression that his encounter with Cuddy had been argumentative or stressful, or confrontational... and Cuddy had just completely contradicted that.

"That's definitely an improvement," he replied, smoothing his expression over with a faint, pleasant smile. "Though, when House is being nice or not as argumentative, it's easy to feel suspicious that he's up to something."

He'd said the last part in a humourous tone, though inwardly Wilson was starting to feel exactly as he'd said: suspicious about how easy House had been to get along with last week, especially now Wilson was aware that House's encounter with Cuddy hadn't been anywhere near what he originally thought it to be.

[dr_l_cuddy]

"Now I didn't say he wasn't argumentative," Cuddy said, wagging her finger at Wilson. She couldn't imagine House not being argumentative. Sometimes she fantasized about it, but the fantasy never got very far. It was simply too difficult to imagine House being cooperative for any length of time.

"It's just that after the way some of our recent...encounters have gone, anything's an improvement." Any encounter that didn't leave her in tears was an improvement these days. She knew House was trying to make up for his earlier behavior. She also knew better than to have listened to his insults and accusations to begin with. When House was angry and defensive, he was just like everyone else. He lied. He said things even he didn't believe. If she hadn't already been in such rough shape emotionally, she wouldn't have let him get to her. But he had, and she had, and now they had to tiptoe their way back to some semblance of normalcy.

She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts before looking up at Wilson again. "And House is always up to something. You know that. Like the birthday present." She toyed aimlessly with her pen, bouncing it against the desk blotter. "I'm not sure I want to know what else he might be up to."

[dr_j_wilson]

"I said 'nice or argumentative'," Wilson pointed out, wagging his finger back at her. Well, in his case, House hadn't been all that argumentative. He'd been almost... compliant. At the time, Wilson had dismissed that merely as House wanting to get back on track after everything that had happened, but now he wasn't so sure.

He dropped his hand back to his lap, giving a faint nod of agreement with what Cuddy was saying, still distracted by his own thoughts about House's behaviour. Wilson wanted to dismiss it as him just being paranoid... he couldn't dismiss House's behaviour, though.

"Me either," he agreed warily, without intending to really speak his thoughts aloud when Cuddy said about what else House might be up to.

[dr_l_cuddy]

"Oh, hush. You know what I mean," Cuddy said, waving off Wilson's wagging finger with a smile. That was the good thing about Wilson...aside from his own good qualities, of course. Wilson knew. She didn't often have to explain her frustrations with House because Wilson had been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. They were a support group of two.

"He's not still giving you trouble about...?" Her words trailed off as she made a vague gesture and how ridiculous was that? She was an adult and a reasonably liberated woman and she kept shying away from simply saying it: they'd had sex. All three of them. Together. Of course, given how badly that had ended she could probably be forgiven for her reluctance to actually say the words.

House seemed to have gotten over his need to blame her for that night, but that didn't necessarily mean he'd stopped blaming Wilson. Wilson certainly seemed concerned about something. Granted, that was nothing unusual when it came to House but still--she was aware that recent events had been hard on their relationship.

"Because if he is...well, you know he's just being an ass."

[dr_j_wilson]

Wilson was quickly trying to cover himself up with another smile or expression to show he wasn't bothered by anything- but Cuddy beat him to it with her question. Even though she trailed off, she didn't need to finish her sentence for Wilson to understand what she was talking about.

He let his face drop into a look of mild despondence. "He's..." He sighed and shrugged with a show of hands as if to say he really had no clue what House's issue was. He didn't want to trouble Cuddy with any of his concerns, not to mention the fact that Wilson wasn't the type to really talk about what was on his mind. At the very least, he didn't feel the need to hide too much from Cuddy, seeing she knew about their relationship - in more ways than one.

"That's the thing: he hasn't been an ass," he said after a pause. "Not lately. Which..."

He drew in a deep breath and then let it out slowly as he shook his head. Come to think of it now, it was weird how nice House had been. Like he was trying to make up for something or cover something up, or... Wilson didn't know what to make of the situation anymore. He also didn't want to say too much in case he came across as seeming too paranoid. The thing was he wasn't sure House was going to be any more forthcoming if he confronted House about this.

"I was under the impression that you and him were at odds with each other," he said, gesturing at Cuddy. "Turns out you're not and..." He trailed off and gave another show of hands, clueless this time.

[dr_l_cuddy]

"Well, we're no more at odds than we usually are," Cuddy said. Because her relationship with House, personally or professionally, was pretty much composed of skirmishes both major and minor. On a good day the fighting was mild, light-hearted even, and no one got hurt. The bad days...didn't bear thinking about.

She could understand Wilson's confusion, though. A House who was not being an ass was not a normal House and it begged the question--why? She had an idea what the answer might be. Obviously House was trying to make amends with her over the whole stalker/threesome thing. In fact, if she were to be completely honest with herself, the only reason they weren't back to normal was because she hadn't been quite ready to forgive his earlier behavior. She always forgave him, eventually, but sometimes it took a little longer.

"House can't just say he's sorry or, god forbid, that he was wrong," she said thoughtfully. "He doesn't acknowledge guilt, but he does feel it. Don't you think it's likely he's simply trying to make up for being an ass to you before?"