Admitting right here: I don't remember the plot of House too well since it's been a while since I've watched it. Main thing is I'm not strong enough of a person to go and rewatch it because of how much angst is in it.
Therefore, it starts to stray from canon with certain plot points written in that are taken from the show (or what I remember of it).
Also! This is another fic in my AU of nothing bad happens and everyone is happy because I am stressed.
[「-」]
None of the fellows could remember why they had broken into House's place. There probably wasn't a very specific reason but there they were. It was House's fault for training all of them to be so good at breaking and entering so no one commented.
There was the piano, the guitars, the very cramped bookshelves, the haphazardly tossed objects on the coffee table, and little details they could see that just seemed right... except for the fact so many of the places were neat.
They eventually entered House's bedroom and the questions they had all died. The bed was also haphazardly made with wrinkled sheets tossed over the bed, looking like it had been done in under two seconds. Next to the bed were two nightstands, one with small, seemingly random knick-knacks riddled on it and the other bare with only a simple wood coaster and paperback book. The fellows spotted the business formal clothing resting on the back of a chair and immediately they all got what was going on. Chase picked up the tie that was resting out and everyone could recognize the tie as Wilson's.
While everyone else muttered to each other about this, Kutner had made his way towards a smaller table towards the corner. He waved his colleagues over. There, on the table, were two teddy bears sitting next to each other, surrounded by pictures. The pictures were smaller polaroid pictures that seemed to make a timeline and they hung on a piece of beige twine, held up by old-fashioned, crafts clothespins. It looked like it would sit next to a "Live, Love, Laugh" poster.
Thirteen gingerly took the first picture from the clothespins. The rest of the fellows passed it around after looking at it with narrowed eyes and more questions arising.
On the left was a grey-furred bear with blue eyes. The grey bear was wearing a light blue turtleneck under the grey blazer and had a cane in its hand.
The bear on the right was a brown bear with brown eyes, looking almost black. It was wearing a red tie, white dress shirt, a deep-plum colored sweater vest, and a lab coat.
Thirteen turned the picture around. On the back, it said "Fuck you, Wilson, this isn't funny, you ass" in familiar handwriting. She snorted with laughter and relayed the sentence to the rest who either shared similar sentiments or became more boggled.
Cameron was the first to speak up after Thirteen relayed the message. "I think this the first time we had started working with him, I remember the turtleneck."
Chase agreed with her, "I do also remember him taking the piss out of Wilson's sweater vests at some point when we started working there." Foreman didn't say anything else and examined the picture further.
...
The first bear was a joke. Wilson gave the grey teddy bear to House after he had started working with his fellows. It was sort of a teasing "congrats for finally working with humans!" gift. There was a small shop nearby that made custom-made teddy bears for a decently reasonable price. Wilson handed a picture to the friendly old man who made the bears and commissioned the outfit and cane.
When House returned to his home, he spotted the bear and cursed to himself. It was cute but he hated it. It was so very Wilson of the oncologist to do this. He shoved the teddy bear in a corner of his closet until the day following that one.
House saw the teddy bear Wilson kept on the shelf in his office and the lightbulb in his head lit up. He went to the same man's store that Wilson went to and handed a picture to the old man. The old man smiled warmly and with amusement as he recognized the man House and then Wilson in the photo.
When Wilson got the gift, instead of being amused as House wanted him to be, Wilson was just happy. The bear sat somewhere where only Wilson knew and every time Wilson opened the world to the bear, he smiled with glittering eyes.
...
The next photo was the same. The left was a grey bear and on the right was a brown bear. The grey bear was wearing a black leather jacket and a band t-shirt. The brown bear had ditched the lab coat and had gone full-out with the suit and tie outfit.
"The flame cane," Amber pointed out. "Probably when we started working with him." She turned the picture around too.
"Wilson, this isn't funny, go fuck yourself." It was House's handwriting again.
This time, a messy sentence was sprawled under it. No one could read it other than Kutner, who everyone deemed to have some form of magical powers. "If it isn't funny, then why do you keep doing it?" And then next to the messy handwriting was a crudely drawn middle finger icon.
...
Wilson had heard of House's plan with hiring a new set of fellows and decided to gift him with a bear. Wilson decided to commission a bear with House's iconic leather jacket and cane.
House was not a man to back away from competition, so he retaliated. While thinking about his current case, he remembered he found it funny that Wilson had eventually just migrated into a full two-piece suit instead of donning the lab coat. It was a natural progression but House was never one to ignore what amused him. He asked the bear maker to give the brown bear a full suit.
The day after they gave each other their bear was a strange day. It was almost content but they decided to ignore the feeling and pretended it was smugness from competition.
...
The third picture's grey bear had slightly shorter hair while the brown bear looked pretty much the same as the last one. The grey bear was only wearing a band t-shirt, a different one from the last one, and didn't have a cane. The brown bear had gotten rid of the suit jacket and was wearing a blue button-up and one of the less flashy ties.
Cameron was the one to flip the picture this time but immediately handed it to Kutner after he skimmed the sentence. "I don't want this to be a reminder of the awful things that you went through. This gift, at least I hope, shows how happy and proud I am. I know you're going to roast me for saying that, but you know me."
"I do know you," Said the neater handwriting. It surprised a few of the fellows with just how emotional it felt compared to the other messages to Wilson. It felt so heartfelt.
...
House had returned from rehab, finally. He had visited his apartment a couple times in between but that day had been the last day he would ever have to enter the hospital... at least, that's what he promised himself and Wilson.
When he got home, there was a note. It was an apology from Wilson who said he had a patient he had to look after things turned for the worse. It had also said that Wilson was looking forward to greeting him, but plans obviously had to change. "I might not be able to greet you but I hope this guy might make you feel better." The note had been nestled in the arms of another teddy bear of House. House called Wilson a sap before he picked up the bear.
House just sat down with it and pulled out a piece of paper. 'What would Wilson's next teddy bear look like?' He asked himself.
...
The fourth picture had bears with outfits no one recognized from work. Taub had pointed out they were tuxedos.
This caused them to chatter upon themselves as they all realized that House and Wilson had been married for a while now.
The teddy bear of House was wearing a classic black suit with a white oxford shirt while Wilson's bear had a white suit with a black oxford shirt under it. House had a cane in his hand, but it looked like a dress cane instead of his classic, more functional one. It made a few of the fellows wonder if House really had that cane during the wedding.
The message on the back simply said, "I do."
...
Wilson felt his throat tighten. He gripped the bear of House and placed the message in its furry hands. Finally, Wilson set the bear down on the bed, right where he would usually sleep if he stayed over.
The bear held a message that said, "Bear-y nice to wake up next to you." Wilson purposely wrote the cheesy pun with a giddy smile on his face. Under the paper was a blue box. It was a greyish blue that had reminded Wilson of House when he first spotted it. The brilliant blue that reminded Wilson of House's eyes and the classy grey that reminded Wilson of House's hair... or lack of.
That day, Wilson didn't see House as it had started to rain heavily. Not only would House getting to the hospital on the motorcycle tricky, the humidity also made House sink back to bed if he could. Wilson shook his head and covered the man's rounds of clinic duty for him
Wilson drove home carefully, banishing any other thought other than the words of his driver's ed teacher as filler for the anxious thoughts that wanted to bubble up. He dragged himself from his car and opened the door...
He ran into House.
"What would you do if I had said no?" House said as showed Wilson the teddy bear version of House in the tuxedo.
"Cry?" Wilson tried to joke but everything paused when he saw the ring on House's finger. It was a simple ring with carvings of when they met on the inside. "Oh..."
"I will marry you, you dickhead."
"How sweet..." Wilson said sarcastically. "So... does a black suit work? I know you're allergic to suits."
"Hell yeah. That means I'm the groom this time."
"Oh... fucking hell," Wilson muttered. "Then I'm guessing I'm wearing a white suit, huh?" House nodded with a smirk. He then wandered to find a piece of paper to sketch out what he wanted Wilson's and his teddy bear's suit to look like
On the day of the wedding, Cuddy, Wilson's best man/maid, handed Wilson's bear to him. Those at the very small wedding were confused but chalked it up to the two men being themselves.
It was the brown bear all dressed up in a white tuxedo and it held a red pillow with the wedding rings on it.
"I do," They said with no regrets.
...
The fifth picture consisted of a bear wearing a band t-shirt and one with a grey McGill sweatshirt. The theme seemed to be casual wear. The back of the picture had the words, "I hate your hairdryer," from House and then a smiley face so happy that it was passive-aggressive, drawn on by Wilson.
Foreman finally spoke up, "Cohabitation," He said confidently. "House complained about Wilson blow-drying his hair, therefore, House asked Wilson to move in with him."
"Getting very couple-y," Chase joked.
...
"House!" Wilson shouted, "Can I put my suit here?" He asked, peeking at the man slumped on the couch.
"Huh?" House blinked away from the TV. "Yeah, you practically live here anyway. Just don't go over 50% of the closet with all of those ties you own."
"I need a variety," Wilson mumbled. "Well, the closet is too small, I can only fit so much without taking up your space..."
"I'll clean it out then," House grumbled and waved him away. Wilson lit up with a smile, but before he could thank House, the older man stopped him. "Only if you move in with me."
"Sure," Wilson's smile grew. "I can't believe Gregory House just asked me to move in with him. How romantic." Wilson laughed as House threw a paper ball at him.
Come the day of moving, Wilson was nearly flopping on the ground with exhaustion. House didn't help with anything so Wilson had to navigate the apartment and movers by himself.
In the end, Wilson did flop on the couch with a sigh. House took a bite out of a donut he bought an hour ago.
Wilson opened the box that was sitting at his feet and pulled out a grey bear. It was wearing a familiar t-shirt.
"C'mon," House muttered. He grabbed the bear with his free hand and looked at it with no expression, then it turned into an irritated growl. "I hate these."
"No you don't," Wilson smiled, a bit smug, as he stole House's donut.
House shouted, "Hey!" and lunged for Wilson, but he was unsuccessful as Wilson dodged and then shoved the rest of the donut into his mouth.
House stared at Wilson and then burst out laughing. "You look fucking ridiculous."
Wilson looked sheepish as he chewed. House stroked the bear as Wilson watched TV.
When Wilson woke up a week later, a brown bear sat on his nightstand. It wore a grey sweatshirt that had the red letters spelling 'McGill' on it and in its left paw was a felt donut, half-eaten.
Wilson burst out laughing.
...
The last photo was a bit different. The past few bears all were the same size, but this picture showed smaller bears. The past bears were the size of a toy at Build-A-Bear, but the last bears were closer to a baby's first teddy bear.
The bears were still distinctly Housian and Wilsonian with how they were dressed up; the grey bear had on a blue dress shirt with the collar popped open and the brown bear had a white oxford shirt and blue tie on. The items they were holding were the most mind-boggling. The Wilson bear held a bottle of scotch in one hand and papers in the other while the House bear had a wad of cash in his right hand.
Chase flipped the picture. "The day we met," was written on the back with Wilson's scrawl. House's handwriting spelled out, "New Orleans, Louisiana."
"They met in New Orleans," Kutner said.
"Ah, so they didn't meet in the hospital," Chase concluded.
"The question should be why are they holding those things in their hands?" Taub asked.
"Paws," Kutner corrected with a smile at Taub. Taub just glared half-heartedly at the other man. The fellows had more questions than before. It was a weird way to learn about their boss's life outside the hospital.
...
It was the anniversary of when they met. It was the anniversary of Wilson receiving his set of divorce papers. It was the anniversary of Wilson smashing the antique mirror after being irritated at Billy Joel's 'Leave a Tender Moment Alone' in New Orleans.
House had seen this day coming for a while, even though he would never admit it, so he commissioned a bear from the old man at the shop.
"I need these to be smaller," House said.
"Any reason?" The old man asked with curiosity.
"It's... a depiction of when we met," House said, almost regretting telling the older man.
The older man had his suspicions when House and Wilson had asked for bears in matching suits, but when House said those words in a slightly hushed tone, he had his proof.
"Well, I can't say I've ever heard of anyone confessing their love through a series of teddy bears," The old man laughed warmly, "But they do often mean love and affection." House looked to the side, embarrassed.
House took the teddy bear of young Wilson to his husband when the day of their anniversary of their first meeting came around. He didn't say anything as he plopped it down in Wilson's lap.
"Happy anniversary to you too," Wilson whispered and leaned in for a kiss.
House found a similarly sized teddy bear waiting for him on a Monday morning, just a few days after.
House felt just as young as he was on that day he met Wilson in New Orleans.
...
Teddy bears. A symbol of love, affection, congratulations, or sympathy. It fit very well when applied to House and Wilson, especially the love part.
In a way, those pictures and those bears... they were fuzzy memories.
Beautiful memories.