House stopped, let Foreman touch him and block his path. It took a moment for House to look at Foreman, and he couldn't hold his gaze once Foreman spoke. He was right. Words rarely meant anything. He rarely used words like 'thank you' and 'you matter' and 'I love you'. But he used them, and he used them when he meant them, never as empty, meaningless phrases that other people had come to adopt so readily. House stood still, but raised his eyes back to Foreman's as he said, "When they're important."

It didn't take long for Foreman to prod, and House felt his hackles rising at what Foreman said next. "You--" House tried to stop himself from lashing out. He took a breath, let it out. "You ignored me. I went and found you. I get that you're interested now, but the only one who seemed interested then was me." Foreman seemed to have it all backwards, and House believe he kept missing this point. If he was ignoring Foreman, he wouldn't have cared to look. He never would have shown up. He never would stormed out, and kissed Foreman, and tried to get away. He couldn't ignore him, even if he wanted to.