Fic: Subtle
Title: Subtle
Author: aniwildangel
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own House MD.
Pairing: Cameron/House
Warnings: Language, themes.
Summary: "You could always tell when Gregory House was planning some major mischief. "

...

You could always tell when Gregory House was planning some major mischief. The usual mocking expression would have a slight hint of naughtiness, and you recognized that warm and delightful suggestion of childish happiness in his eyes. Even now, when he was leaning to kiss you again, you knew he was planning something, whether it was some lousy diversion to experiment on his team, or a new scheme to steal Wilson's cucumber salad (which House hated, by the way) from the refrigerator in the doctor's lounge. But not knowing his evil plan would save you hours of repressed guilt, so you just pulled away and decided to ignore it.

"We should stop this, House…"

You kept calling him House, strangely enough. Greg was for those more intimate moments at his apartment, when neither of you felt nervous that it might sound ridiculous.

"Maybe we should…. Except that we won't. Do you really want to waste time on semantics?"

"I'm serious."

"OK... Any chance we may have this talk in about… let's say… 2 hours?

"You have clinic duty in 2 hours."

"Exactly!..."

You crossed your arms and stood in front of him, with some kind of softly disapproving expression, until you got his full attention. It was a good tactic to deal with misbehaving children, so it worked perfectly with House.

"I'm… confused. This whole thing… us… its too subtle for me. I mean, I like subtle, sometimes... but this is just... What is this, anyway?"

Silence. You were not sad or angry. You were just being honest. And he was impatient.

"Why are you bringing this up?" he asked.

"Chase knows. And I'm not even sure how much guilt I'm entitled to feel."

House looked at you and tapped his cane twice on the carpet floor. With a smile.

"Great."

"Great? That's all you have to say?"

"Well? Should I be choosing the weapons for the duel? Has he chosen his?"

He sat on the desk and started to drink his Starbucks while staring at you. You could tell he was savouring you along with the coffee, reading you, waiting for something. And he was smiling again. A proud smile? God, now you were worried.

"He's been suspicious since that day, and I know he knows. At least about the sex."

"And you care, because…?"

"I cheated on him, House. Not that I ever had a real relationship with him… But still…And he's… miserable."

"Right… 'Cause he thought you were into the Pure Love Club thing… I'm sure he'll return you to your family, now that he knows you are not a virgin!"

"House!"

He turned on the TV. It was an obvious attempt to annoy you, so that you would leave without an immediate answer. When you didn't, he forced himself to continue:

"So you want to know how guilty you should feel depending on how serious this is. Interesting!"

"Why is it interesting?"

"Because that's your decision to make, not mine."

Now you were the one getting impatient.

"House, why is this conversation becoming a trap? If I really like you, I should be racking myself with guilt about Chase, is that what you're trying to say?"

"I'm not seeing any whip marks on you, so far. So I guess you're not feeling that guilty."

"House, can you be serious, just this once? I'm just trying to figure out what the hell we're doing!"

He tapped his cane on the carpet again, slowly.

"Wilson thinks I'm hiding you from the world. And by the world I mean hospital."

Silence.

"Well… are you?"

"Maybe. Does that bother you?"

"I… don't know. You keep sending me mixed signals…."

"You said it yourself, it's all about subtlety."

"Yeah… except you're not like that when it comes to relationships. When you want something, you really want it. And you make sure everyone gets out of the way."

"Are we talking about Stacy?"

"I don't know! Are we?"

"I hope not. Because you tend to get really annoying when it gets to that point of the conversation."

Another silence.

"He's totally gonna do her!!" he said, pointing at the TV screen. That lousy soap opera was on. Again! "I wonder what poor Rico will do when he finds out!"

You knew defeat when you saw it, and it normally came in form of House's favourite TV shows. Your previous experiences taught you it was a bad idea to fight for his attention when soap operas were involved.

"Right. I have to go. We'll talk later."

"Can't wait. My place or yours?"

"You mean our talk?"

He smiled.

"You know what I mean."

You kissed him quickly and left him in his chair, knowing he was admiring every inch of you leaving.

...

Something was definitely wrong. The ER was a complete chaos, but people seemed to have enough time stop and stare at you in a funny way. Women, especially, kept smiling somewhat tenderly every time they saw you, while most men just looked surprised and even... disappointed? If only you had 2 minutes to sneak to the bathroom and check if there was anything wrong with your face… maybe your hair? You probably looked like crap after all those hours stitching wounds, changing bandages and reattaching small body parts. But still, it was no reason for all the strange attention you were receiving. The oddness of your afternoon reached its peek when Cuddy paged you.

"Hi! You've been looking for me?" you asked, finding her in her office.

"Yes, Cameron. Please have a seat."

She had this peculiar sweet expression on her. Almost like she was feeling sorry for you… what the hell was wrong?

"Is it everything OK? I don't want to be rude, but the ER is a mess, so I hope this doesn't take long…"

"Are you sleeping with House?"

You took a moment to process the question. What the… what? How did she…

"Did he tell you?"

"You think he shouldn't have?"

"Yes. No... I mean… I just thought he…"

"… he would keep it unofficial?"

" Yeah. I imagine you don't approve this... "

"I actually think it may be a good thing."

"You do?"

"A well-rested, satisfied House doesn't make my life miserable."

She had a point.

"I can't believe he… "

"Actually, he didn't tell me. But I was talking to nurse Kate five minutes ago, and she told me how the Post-It on you back was hard to miss."

You couldn't decide whether to scream or cry. You were sure about killing House, though. Feeling like some sort of maniac, you searched frenetically for some stupid piece of paper stick on you. As soon as you found it and recognized House's messy handwriting, you couldn't help but smile.

"Property of Gregory House.
And no, I won't share."

Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"You know House. He's all about subtlety."

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