Author's Note: Okay, a lot of people were mad about the blanking out curse words thing. But the truth was, I post this story somewhere else as well, and you have to blank out swear words there. And I kept forgetting to unblank them. Sorry! Here is the last chapter, please don't be mean about it!

Greg House

Age 8

"Daddy! Mommy! I won! I won the Science Fair!"

"Greg, honey, I'm so proud of you! Come give Mommy a kiss!"

Greg rolled his eyes, but he secretly didn't mind. He stood up on his toes and gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek. She wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug, and he almost forgot that they weren't the only ones in the room.

"Daddy, did you hear me? I got first place."

"I heard you son. Good job."

But his father's voice wasn't filled with pride the way his mother's was. Greg searched his dad's face for anything that would show he cared, but it was as though it was carved from stone. He looked in his eyes, and instead of joy there was emptiness, and something else. Disappointment, maybe? Disgust?

It flooded through him in an instant, a wave of self doubt and shame. What had he done to make his Daddy mad? Why wasn't he happy that his son was the best? The Science Fair didn't seem so important anymore, he was no longer pleased with his accomplishments.

Greg tried not to let his feelings show as he picked up his backpack and walked towards his room. He closed the door behind him and climbed up onto the bed. Holding a pillow to his chest, he fought the tears that were threatening to come. Real men didn't cry, and he didn't want to disappoint Daddy any more than he already had.

As he sat alone in silence, he could hear his parents' voices through the door.

"Why do you always do that, John? He was so happy, and you ruined it for him!"

"I did no such thing. He won his little Science Fair, so what? It's not that great of an achievement."

"Just because he doesn't want to play football and be a soldier doesn't mean he can't be successful, John! You can be so close-minded sometimes! He's a very smart little boy, and he just wants his father to be proud of him. Is that too much to ask?"

"It's humiliating! I expected him to carry on the tradition and be an officer like my father, and my grandfather. Instead he wastes his life by sticking his nose in a book. How do you expect me to deal with it?"

"Everything is always about you, John. You never once considered that maybe Greg doesn't want to be a soldier. Maybe there's something out there better suited to him. You can't just get over yourself and support your own son, can you? It's despicable."

Now Greg just felt worse. Not only was he a failure, he had made Mommy and Daddy angry with each other, and he never meant to do that. He just couldn't make anybody happy.

7 years later

Age 15

"Greg, son, come downstairs. I want you to meet some friends of mine."

"Sorry Dad, but I'd rather stick a screwdriver in my eyeball than meet anyone whose friends with you."

Greg House was a difficult teenager, he knew it, and he didn't care. He'd learned from experience that sarcasm masked pain. No one could hurt you if they were already preoccupied with their own wounds.

"Gregory House, you come down here right this instant and apologize. I'm ashamed of you."

"Oh, I'm crushed. I have no purpose left in life."

Five years ago, when he still wanted nothing more than to please his father, this would have been true. Now, he didn't give a dmn what his dad thought. He was immune to his condescending remarks and disdainful glares. That was what he told himself, anyway.

He lived in fear of someone discovering his secret. That his bitter, cynical exterior cloaked the insecurity beneath. He refused to let anyone too close, in case they discovered his secret.

Present Day

The infarction had been a blessing, really. It gave him an excuse to be a derisive ss. Now, people felt sorry for him, and looked at him with pity instead of repugnance. He wasn't sure which was worse.