Chapter Text
As Wilson walked down the halls of PPTH with his brace and crutches, he suddenly heard quick footsteps approaching him.
Turning, Wilson spotted House, who was speed-walking towards Wilson with determination.
“Why, if it isn’t Doctor Wilson!” House exclaimed loudly for the whole hospital to hear. “What a surprise to see you here!”
“I’m pretty sure you just followed me after I left my office,” Wilson said, an eyebrow raised.
“What?” House scoffed. “I would never.”
“Sure. And hedgehogs fly,” Wilson snorted. “What are you doing following me, anyway? Did you just want to show off how fast you move now with the prosthesis?”
“Maybe,” House smirked.
Wilson chuckled as they walked down the hall together side by side.
“I don’t blame you. The new leg is pretty sweet.”
“Hell yeah it is. It’s been eight months since I first got the old leg off, and six months since I got the new one. That’s something to be proud about,” House hummed. “That’s something for you to be proud about, too.”
Wilson grinned.
“I’m pretty proud of both of us, yeah.”
House smiled before shaking his face a little, as if he were resetting his brain.
“Alright, enough sappiness. I need to call you something crude and vulgar to make up for all of that.”
“Go ahead. I’m waiting,” Wilson hummed calmly.
“You’re a manipulative, devious little bitch.”
“Isn’t it funny how each couple seems to have their own love language? Some people like spending quality time together, some people like complimenting each other; you like pranking me and calling me a bitch.”
“I know. Isn’t it romantic?” House said dreamily.
“For a sadist, maybe,” Wilson snorted.
“Oh, please, like you don’t enjoy verbally ripping into me.”
“That sounds oddly erotic,” Wilson frowned.
“If you’re a cannibal, sure,” House said, an eyebrow raised. “Don’t tell me you’re into that kind of stuff.”
“I think if I was secretly Hannibal Lecter, you would know that by know. We’ve been together for a year now.”
“Wow. Time flies when your boyfriend is a cannibal.”
“Oh, shut up,” Wilson laughed, head-butting House on the shoulder as they both kept walking.
“Oh, so now you’re attacking me?” House grinned, kissing Wilson’s cheek.
“That’s my love language,” Wilson smirked.
“Dork.”
“Asshole.”
As House and Wilson laughed together, they both arrived at the room of Wilson’s patient, Mrs. Kerry, or Diana.
Wilson couldn’t help but bounce the ends of his crutches against the floor in excitement. After taking Wilson’s advice, Diana had ended up calling her girlfriend and telling her everything. Just as Wilson had hoped, Diana’s girlfriend had understood everything, and stuck to Diana’s side throughout everything, including chemo. Emily, Diana’s girlfriend, had been nothing but supportive, and every time Wilson saw them together, they were always smiling at each other comfortingly.
And as of today, after a long stretch of painstaking chemo, Diana’s leukemia was gone.
Standing next to House, Wilson watched as Diana and Emily exited Diana’s patient room — her old patient room, now, seeing as Diana was being discharged.
“Hi, Diana!” Wilson greeted excitedly.
Diana and Emily looked up to see Wilson, and immediately, Diana broke out into a smile.
“Hi, Doctor Wilson!”
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Wilson asked, holding out a hand to shake Diana’s joyfully.
“A lot better. I’m happy to finally be getting home.”
“I would imagine,” Wilson chuckled. “Get yourself a lot of rest. You deserve it.”
“Thanks,” Diana grinned. “And hey, thank you so much for all of your advice. Both me and Emily really appreciate it.”
“Yeah, we do,” Emily nodded, smiling.
“I’m always happy to help,” Wilson grinned.
“All you guys are missing are friendship bracelets,” House commented, amused behind his grumpy exterior.
“Diana, Emily, you remember House,” Wilson snorted, eyeing House affectionately.
“He’s one of those people you don’t really forget,” Emily smirked.
“Oh, clever,” House deadpanned, secretly amused.
Rolling his eyes playfully, Wilson turned back to Diana and Emily.
“Well, I’d better let you two go. I’m really happy for the both of you,” he smiled.
“Thank you again, Doctor Wilson,” Diana smiled as Emily nodded to Wilson as a sign of thanks.
“Oh, of course. You’ve been nothing but kind.”
After a lot of good-bye waving, Diana and Emily went on their way.
Smiling at House, Wilson began to walk down the hallways. He didn’t really have a destination planned, he just wanted to walk and talk with House.
“So, I take it you’re back to being the friendly neighborhood oncologist that every one of your patients thanks?” House asked.
Wilson smiled.
“You could say that, yeah. I feel like I’m really back to my old self without the Vicodin and leg pain. I’m bonding with my patients again. They all… they all like me,” Wilson grinned, full of happiness for what he’s accomplished.
He was back to his old, regular self, and he could say that with full confidence. He liked his regular self. His regular self wasn’t so angry, so mean, so easily irritated like he had been with the pain and Vicodin. He was back to being friendly and kind to everyone, but this time, he had a new appreciation for life. He went to therapy regularly, he went to physical therapy, and he had House by his side. He was happy with his life.
“I’m not surprised. You’re basically a golden retriever,” House smirked.
Wilson chuckled.
“You know, I think your mood has significantly improved, too. Sure, you’re still an asshole who likes to make fun of others, although that’s just you. But you’re not so… angry at the world. Your jokes are more light-hearted, not so mean.”
House grinned a little.
“You just called me an asshole, dickwad.”
“I know. It’s because you are,” Wilson hummed teasingly.
Suddenly, House playfully slapped Wilson upside the head before speed-walking down the hall, making his getaway.
“Oh, you asshole!” Wilson yelled, grinning.
Kicking himself into gear, Wilson began to run as best as he could with the crutches to dash over House, and the two of them began to chase each other around the hallways of PPTH like kids, ignoring the perplexed gazes of everyone who saw them. Life was good.
********
“Stop messing with your bowtie. You’ll undo it,” Wilson scolded.
“But it’s choking me, the damned thing,” House grumbled.
“But it makes you look so handsome.”
“Fiiine. I’ll keep it on for you,” House sighed.
Wilson smiled and kissed House’s cheek.
“Good. I like it when you dress nice.”
House and Wilson were both at a formal gathering for the doctors of PPTH. The event was being held at a hotel venue near the hospital at night, the stars pleasantly clear outside.
Everyone around the room was dressed finely, women in nice dresses and men in tuxes.
There was also snacks and alcohol, so, naturally, House and Wilson were camped out against a wall, eating and drinking and laughing together. All of the others doctors there were completely boring compared to House, who was currently pulling mini sausages out of his tuxedo jacket pocket.
“I’m slightly scared to ask this,” Wilson began, a cocktail glass in hand, “but why do you have so many little sausages in your pocket?”
“I’ve been stashing them in my pocket throughout the night so I could see how many I can fit in my mouth at once,” House explained.
Wilson just simply blinked at House.
“That is disgusting. Start eating, I’ll count.”
And like that, House was pulling out individual mini sausages from his pocket and cramming them into his mouth. Wilson was excitedly shouting and cheering out the number of each sausage House got in there.
House managed to get to a whopping sixteen sausages before two doctors Wilson recognized approached House and Wilson. Their faces instantly switched to looks of horror as they witnessed the sight of House before them.
The couple, a man and a woman, simply stared wide-eyed as Wilson turned to make eye contact with them. Normally, Wilson would be embarrassed to be seen cheering on a man who was shoving little sausages into his mouth like nobody’s business, but Wilson was a little drunk and having an absurd amount of fun with House, so he didn’t really care.
“James Wilson, head of oncology,” Wilson introduced with a smile, holding out his hand for the couple to shake.
House simply let out a loud mumble around his mouthful.
The woman was the first of the couple to gather the bravery to shake Wilson’s hand.
“Uh… Addison Corday, radiology. This is my husband, Jeff Corday.”
“Great to see you two. This is my partner, Greg House,” Wilson smiled, gesturing to House.
House simply waved as he began to messily chew the sausages.
“Oh, I’ve certainly heard of Doctor House,” Addison said with a smile that actually looked more like a grimace.
“Hey, I think that’s Doctor Gordon over there,” Jeff suddenly cut in. “We should go say hi.”
“Oh, great idea! See you two later!” Addison said as she took her husband by the hand and started to practically run away.
House and Wilson both waved before bursting out into laughter.
“I think we just traumatized those two,” Wilson laughed.
House swallowed his comically large bite to start laughing as hard as Wilson. Every time their laughter began to wane a little, they would glance at each other just to start cracking up again.
After a while, though, they simply smiled at each other, appreciating each other’s company.
“You’re such an idiot, you know that?” Wilson teased affectionately.
“Says the idiot,” House chuckled, elbowing Wilson.
House then reached forward to pluck the toothpick holding an olive out of the cocktail glass Wilson was holding.
“My olive!” Wilson huffed indignantly. “You don’t even like olives!”
House shoved the olive in his mouth and began to chew grossly, putting on a show for Wilson.
“I didn’t see you eating it,” House said.
Wilson tapped a crutch against the ground impatiently.
“Ass.”
House smirked before spitting the remains of the olive back into Wilson’s glass.
“Gross,” he spat.
“Double ass,” Wilson said, rolling his eyes. He stepped over a bit to set the glass down on a nearby table.
“So, wanna ditch this place?” House asked when Wilson turned back to face him.
“House, the event still has two more hours. It’s only halfway over.”
“Still. It’s boring,” he huffed.
Suddenly, House turned and began to walk away.
“House, hey!” Wilson exclaimed, instinctually following him at a quick pace. Wilson could move pretty fast with the crutches and brace.
“C’mon. I’m taking you somewhere more fun than this,” House grinned.
As much as Wilson knew that they should stay for this, he also wanted to follow House.
Sighing, Wilson kept up the pace at House’s side. House always won over every other option.
“And where is that?” Wilson asked.
“It’s a surprise,” House said as they reached the exit.
Pushing open the door, House led the way outside into the cold night air. Wilson stepped outside and glanced up, admiring the lights of the hotel against the black of the night.
“This way,” House instructed.
Eventually, the two of them reached House’s motorcycle in its handicapped parking spot.
“We’re gonna look funny,” Wilson chuckled. “Two guys in tuxes driving on a motorcycle late at night.”
“People are going to know how hard we’re partying,” House smirked as he hopped up and straddled the bike.
With his prosthesis, House had had to get a few changes done to his motorcycle to make it drivable for him. House had adapted just fine, and he still took Wilson out for motorcycle rides all of the time.
House had also upgraded the old cane-holder on the side of the bike to be a crutch-holder for Wilson. When House had first showed that part to Wilson, Wilson had nearly cried from how sweet it was of House.
Snapping the crutches into the holder, Wilson slid onto the motorcycle behind House and wrapped his arms securely around House’s waist.
“Ready?” House asked.
“Ready!” Wilson replied enthusiastically.
Revving up the bike, House quickly sped off out of the parking lot.
Wilson felt rebellious to be sneaking out of the hospital event like this. It felt awesome.
As House raced down the road, the wind whipped at Wilson, exhilarating him. Throwing his fists up into the air, Wilson let out a loud cheer.
Laughing, House joined in, and the two of them whooped and cheered their way through the night.
When Wilson was beginning to grow hoarse from all that joyful yelling, House began to slow down and cruise into the parking lot of the university near PPTH.
The university… oh.
House was taking Wilson to the fountain where they had shared their first kiss.
As House pulled into a space and stopped, Wilson leaned forward to kiss House on the cheek.
“What are we doing here?” he asked, chuckling.
Stepping off the bike, House gave Wilson a little smile.
“We’re having fun.”
That answer was good enough for Wilson.
After House helped Wilson off the bike and into his crutches, the two of them strolled across the campus on their way to the infamous fountain.
The university felt so empty at night, shadows stretching across the paths that students crossed during the day. What was such a usually busy place was now bathed in moonlight, empty except for House and Wilson.
As they walked side by side, empty buildings flanking them, House wrapped an arm around Wilson’s waist affectionately.
“Do you know what today is?” House asked, voice quiet.
Wilson paused for a second to think.
“I don’t know, what day is it?”
House stared at the ground for a moment before answering.
“It’s the anniversary of when the infarction happened.”
“Oh,” Wilson responded. “That was a long time ago, huh?”
“Nine years,” House said.
“A lot has happened since then. A lot of good, a lot of bad.”
It was hard to believe that on this day nine years ago, Wilson had been experiencing the worst pain of his life in his old kitchen. Wilson’s entire world had changed that day.
He thought about the infarction and what it had done to his life. Every day, his life has been pain. Morning and night, he had been in agony. There were so many times when it almost got the best of him, when he couldn’t take it anymore.
But he had always clung on, because he couldn’t let go of the hope that things would get better. And they did. By god, they did.
Each morning, Wilson woke up grateful that the pain was gone. He wasn’t living in that torture anymore. Sometimes, Wilson still cried happy tears when he thought about the fact that the infarction pain was gone. It was something of the past, now, and Wilson couldn’t be happier.
And now Wilson had House with him; it was hard to believe that there was ever a time where they weren’t together. Telling House that they were soulmates had been the best thing Wilson ever could have done.
Living wasn’t a chore anymore; it was a gift.
“Yeah,” House nodded. “So I thought we could tell the infarction a big ol’ fuck you tonight by celebrating what we have now.”
Wilson smiled.
“I like that idea.”
“Good. Because look ahead,” House grinned, turning to look in front of them both.
There it was, the fountain.
The starlight and faint glowing from street lamps were glistening on the water as it streamed down, sparkling droplets spraying through the air.
It looked so beautiful, and what made it even better was that House and Wilson were together for this visit unlike last time, when everything had been confusing and stressful.
“It’s so pretty,” Wilson gaped, staring ahead at the water.
“Then c’mon, what are you waiting for? Let’s go run in it like birds in a bird bath,” House grinned, speed-walking ahead.
Wilson followed him just as quickly, and the two of them reached the fountain in a heartbeat. House immediately began to step into the water as soon as he got his shoes and socks off.
“You’re getting your tux all wet!” Wilson fretted, watching the water soak into the clothes.
“Oh, relax. It’s just water,” House chuckled.
Rolling his eyes, Wilson set his crutches down and sat on the edge of the fountain to unstrap his leg brace, setting that down along with his socks and shoes.
Turning around, Wilson placed his feet in the water, then stood up with some help from House.
As Wilson balanced on his feet, House held Wilson in his arms, hands resting on Wilson’s waist.
“This is nice,” Wilson smiled as water streamed down on their bodies.
“I knew it would be,” House smirked.
The two of them began to sway a little, taking small steps, slow dancing together in the water.
“Did I ever tell you that the infarction happened while I was doing dishes?” Wilson asked, chuckling. He was glad that he could laugh at the memory now. Before, Wilson would have grown bitter just at the thought of the beginning of the infarction.
House snorted. “That’s so mundane.”
“Isn’t it?” Wilson laughed. “I thought I was going to die that day. And then I thought I was going to die from a heart attack after I called you and realized we were soulmates.”
House laughed, his eyes glowing with joy.
“Wanna know what my first thought was after you told me we were soulmates?”
“What?” Wilson asked, grinning.
“‘Knew it.’”
Wilson laughed.
“I wasn’t that surprised to find out, either. I mean, just look at us. Three-thousand people at that convention, and we still found each other.”
“You were the only person there who I found interesting,” House smiled.
“And I knew that you would keep me on my toes for the rest of my life when you bailed me out of jail,” Wilson chuckled.
“You just couldn’t ever get rid of me,” House grinned.
“You know, despite going through hell on earth with that infarction, I’m happy that I’m your soulmate,” Wilson smiled.
“Good. Because you know what? I am too.”
Grinning widely, Wilson kissed House’s cheek.
“Hey, remember when I massaged your leg and you got an erection?” Wilson teased.
“The guy I’m love in love with was naked and straddling me. My body responded in the only way it knew how,” House defended, smirking.
Wilson laughed.
“Oh, and remember when we shotgunned weed? That was, like, the hottest experience of my life.”
“I knew you would like it,” House grinned. “Remember when you kissed every inch of my neck and jaw you could reach after bandaging my arm?”
“You told me to kiss the wound to make it feel better, so I did,” Wilson said playfully.
“You kissed more than just the wound,” House snorted.
“I got a little caught up in the moment, admittedly,” Wilson said sheepishly.
“Hey, remember when we cuddled on the floor of your old apartment? And then you almost killed Julie when she made you sell the place?”
“‘Do I remember it’?” Wilson repeated, snorting. “I think about that night every day. It was the only good thing that had happened to me that year; it was so soon after the infarction,” he chuckled. “It was such a tender moment.”
“I’ll only admit this once, but that was one of the happiest nights of my life,” House smiled softly.
“Aww, the old grumpy doctor loves me,” Wilson purred teasingly.
“Oh, shut up,” House grumbled, clearly fighting back a smile. “You’re still the idiot that hid an entire infarction from me. I’m honestly super impressed by that.”
“Oh, well, I’m honored,” Wilson said, giving a little bow as he and House kept slow dancing.
“I mean, how do you even do that? It was constant agony all of the time.”
“It took all of my energy,” Wilson chuckled. “Trust me. I had to trick you a lot.”
“Devious bastard,” House grinned. “We really were lovesick wrecks before we got together, huh?”
“Oh, without a doubt. Did I ever tell you that I realized I was in love with you when I was bathing you after the infarction?” Wilson laughed.
“You fell in love with me when you were scrubbing my bare chest? I’m not surprised.”
“No, I fell in love with you way before that. The bathtub was just when I got my head out from underneath a rock and realized it.”
“Oh. When did you fall in love with me, then?” House asked gently, tilting his head.
“When I first laid eyes on you,” Wilson smiled tenderly.
House blinked at Wilson, eyes full of emotion.
“Me too. I’ve always loved you. Still do, always will,” House breathed.
“You know, I’m positive that even in a world without soulmates, we still would have found each other and ended up together. No matter what, we were always meant to be together,” Wilson said softly, gazing into House’s eyes.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” House responded softly, the stars reflected in his ice-blue eyes.
Smiling, Wilson leaned forward and kissed House softly.
“I love you,” Wilson grinned.
“I love you too,” House grinned right back.
Wilson was right: no matter what, in every world, the two of them still would have ended up at each other’s side. Nothing could ever separate them. They were always meant to find each other.
They were soulmates in every sense of the word, both physical and emotional, and in each and every world, House and Wilson were soulmates. That was the way it was always meant to be, forever and always.