My Response to Violet's First Shuffle Challenge

A/N: This is the first challenge I've ever taken up so I ask for your gentle indulgence! It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be and I don't think I've typed that quickly before in my life. I'm just grateful that my muse was sitting on my shoulder and helping me to think of something to write for each song and most wonderfully to help me write these drabbles in such a way that they almost flow together (I swear these came up randomly and I didn't preplan! Cheating would destroy the fun!). I stuck to my time limits and only went back to correct spelling and punctuation before submitting this. Point of View should be self-explanatory as you read.

I chose to go with a Hameron theme which I have never tried before (Before this I was a Hameron virgin!). So all you Hameron fans out there take pity on me and be merciful!

Please review and tell me how I've done! Thanks!

"I've Got To See You Again" by Norah Jones. (4:13)

You pick up the phone, and then put it down again. Your heart is pumping hard with anxiety. Seeing her again after the sorry good-bye in your office the day she left reminded you of the sense of loss you felt immediately after and for the months since. You have no idea why she has come back to Princeton, but fate is allowing you to see her again; across the restaurant she sits alone with her food and thoughts. You don't go to her just then because you're with Wilson and he will start in on you as only Wilson can, either pushing you towards her or warning you not to hurt her and to leave her alone.

So you wait until Wilson is in the bathroom to go over to talk to her. Cameron looks up at you with a mixture of curiosity and regret. You talk briefly about nothing and everything. You mention how good she is looking and you are sincere. She tells you she's never seen you looking better and she's impressed with the change she sees in you since she left. You ask for her number and to your surprise she gives it to you, writing it on a napkin and handing it to you surreptitiously. You stick it in your pocket and then return to your table just before Wilson returns.

Later, back at the loft, Wilson has gone to bed; you pull out the napkin and stare at it again. Summoning all of your courage you dial her number. She picks up. The sound of her voice thrills you, sends shivers down your spine and to your nether regions. You tell her it's you and then you tell her that you've got to see her again, tonight. She gives you the name of her hotel and tells you to come now. You hang up, terrified and exhilarated all at once. Without taking the time to talk yourself out of it, you pick up your jacket and helmet and head out the door….

"Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself" by Meat Loaf (7:08)

You sit alone in your hotel room. Ever since you hung up you've been questioning whether or not you're doing the wise thing, the right thing. After all, your divorce has just been finalized and you're not certain you're ready to start anything new with someone else, especially with him. Yet your heart has ached over the words you said to him the last time you spoke. You were angry at your ex-husband for what he had done but for some reason you took it out on House when he was innocent. Your words were bitter and venomous, cloaked in the moral superiority you know has kept you and him from ever having a chance in the past. You have wished since that you could take it all back, all but the part where told him that you had been in love with him…then change the verb to present tense…" I am in love with you…still. I want you, I need you, I love you…I'm so sorry. I never truly loved Chase…it was always you. He was a poor replacement for you at best. It's always been you!

You fear he hates you for what you said before you marched out of his life with the intention of never speaking to or seeing him again. Yet he approached you in the restaurant. He asked you for your number. His azure eyes looked into yours and spoke more than words ever could. There was longing, desire, lust, fear and…could it have been…was it possible that in his eyes you saw…love? Perhaps there was still a chance. Perhaps he could forgive you. Perhaps dreams do come true.

A knock on the door sends your heart into your throat, your stomach flip-flops with excitement, your skin tingles with arousal.

You go to the door and take a steadying breath before opening it. House stands there, sexy as always, his eyes capturing yours and silent communication passes between you. Words are not necessary. You tell each other everything in one longing look. You step back and silently let him in, shutting the door. You stand staring at each other for a moment before he strides towards you and pulls you into his embrace, crashing his lips into yours with a passion and need that says everything he feels for you and you kiss him back with everything you feel and want and need. No words are exchanged as you undress each other, excited and thinking about nothing but each other and your intense desire for each other. You make love, no words spoken, just the sound of your breath, soft moans, cries of pleasure and each other's names on your lips as you both climax. You no longer doubt his forgiveness, his desire, his love….

"Somebody to Love" as performed by the cast of Glee. (4:44)

You wake up and find yourself in a strange place. It takes you a moment to remember where you are and who you're with but when you do a smile comes to your face, a face not all that accustomed to smiling. The answer to your dreams is lying in your arms, sleeping contentedly and as you look at her your heart melts and wonders why it took you so long to come to your senses. She had been there all along, but for years you silently suffered the loneliness, wishing that you could find that somebody who would take you for you, exactly as you are, never expecting you change or become somebody else.

What was it that finally woke you up to the truth in front of you? Oh yes, it was losing her, watching her walk away for what you thought was the last time. The shock of it being true the morning after left you in mourning for her, realizing what you had had within your grasp and allowed to get away.

Seeing her again last night was your second chance, the one you have been praying for from the God you deny even exists. You know that you couldn't afford to throw this one last chance away, so you 'screw your courage to the sticking place' and force you and your cane forward towards her table, knowing you could be rejected and deserve to be…yet she has been praying the same prayers to the same non-existent God for someone to love and to be loved. She gave you her number, invited you into her room, welcomed you into her bed, begged you to come into her heart and to let her into yours and for the first time in a long time you do the wisest thing you have ever done in your life…you let her in, and allow yourself to go in to her heart and now you know the happiness you've been yearning for your entire life.

"Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts (4:37)

You pick her up on your motorcycle and the smile on her face tells you that you chose wisely. She recalls the time a few years before when she had ridden with you on another bike but it had been one of the greatest thrills of her life to sit up so close to you, to have you pull her arms around you so that your bodies were connected. The ride had been fun too. You tell her to quit talking, or you'll never make it to the lake before dark.

She climbs on board and dons the helmet you give her to wear. When she wraps her arms around your waist you feel breathless and powerful all at once. You set out on your adventure. The open highway lies at your feet, or rather at your wheels. Ahead of you are all of the possibilities you thought would never be yours and you get to share them with the most beautiful woman in the world. She loves you, wants you, needs you…and she's riding that highway with you, facing the cities and towns, the smooth pavement and the pot holes, the long waits and the fast cruises.

Your heart is soaring. A few months ago you never thought she would talk to you again and she had thought the same thing about you…but that was yesterday. Today and tomorrow are filled with her in your days and nights. You'll never have to face the darkness alone again because she's with you now….

"Someday" by Rob Thomas (4:12)

You sit in the taxi heading for the airport, your heart breaking in your chest. You've cried all of the tears you have and now you just want to hide your head in the sand, run away from the pain and the disappointment. You thought this time he would be honest, that you could trust him not to break your heart. You realize you were a fool--a fool for coming back, for falling in love with him again.

Walking in on him kissing Cuddy, his arms wrapped tightly around her body, or was it her arms wrapped around his body? You're not certain and it doesn't really matter, does it? The fact that House was kissing someone other than you is all that matters. It doesn't matter that he ran after you as fast as he could with his cane and bad leg. It doesn't matter that he tried to explain that she had kissed him, that he didn't care about her, that he hadn't wanted the kiss and had already pushed her away once only to have a kiss forced upon him again when you walked in…that doesn't matter, does it? Does it?

You wonder if you have been too rash, you wonder if it is all a big misunderstanding. You wonder if he told the truth and now he is broken hearted, as broken hearted as you, or perhaps more so? You wonder if you shouldn't have the driver turn the taxi around and take you back to the hospital, to hear him out before you run away. But it's too late. You are already at the terminal and before you know it you're standing in line to go through security. The time has passed to go back, it seems. Perhaps this is fate, the way things were meant to be, except….

Except you hear your name once, faintly. A moment later you hear it again, a little closer, a little louder. It is laced with desperation and pain. You decide to look in the direction of the call. House is staring at you, his face a mask of grief, pushing his way through the crowd to get to you. You're heart breaks all over again, but this time for what you have done to him.

"Allison!" he says looking more devastated than you've ever seen him. "Listen to me…we can work this out. Someday I'll deserve your trust…just hear me out…."

You hesitate only a moment longer before pushing through the crowd to get to him. What have you got to lose to listen, compared to all that you may be able to save if you do…?

"If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks (3:41)

You lie on the gurney, waiting to be taken into the operating room. She stands there beside you, holding your hand in silence, tears in her eyes but held in check because she knows how much it makes you uncomfortable to see her cry. Besides, you know she's thinking that she's there to support you and encourage you, not to be supported and encouraged.

Nobody expects to be diagnosed with cancer, especially cancer of the liver. Your best friend nearly fell apart telling you. Fortunately for you your months of sobriety and a return to a healthy life style (not to mention a little prayer by your mother on your behalf) have bought you a chance, a place on the list, and your number has come up--a chance for a few years longer with the source of the only true happiness you've ever known. She knows as well as you do how bad the odds of survival are in your weakened condition. There has been no sugar coating, no denial. You may go into the OR and never see her again. As you look at her looking at you, you realize that you've never actually said the words. You've done everything you can think of to show her exactly how you feel, but you've never allowed the words to pass your lips. Now you realize that this may be last chance you get. And you have no doubts. And you know she needs to hear it. And you need to say it.

As the OR staffers come to take you in to surgery you hold tight to her hand and look her deeply in the eyes. You put your other hand behind her head and draw her close to you and whisper weakly into her ear the words she has longed for so long in silence to hear you say.

"I love you, Allison," you tell her, and you see the tears fill her eyes just before they whisk you away….

"Your Man" by Down with Webster (2:49)

It's the first anniversary of your chance meeting in that little restaurant where he walked back into your life and swept you off of your feet. It's been four months since the transplant surgery and all of his tests have come back clean. You have never seen the doctor as teary eyed as the patient to make that announcement, but Wilson was in tears. You and House both have that second chance now. On this night he acts mysterious as he takes you out for dinner. You can never figure him out, he is always full of surprises. Normally loathsome of sentimentality, he remembers this date without prompting.

He takes you to the service road that ends at the fence beyond which is the runway. You've picked up take out at your favorite deli and driven out here for a starlit dinner alone. On a blanket he remembered to bring you sit, eating Reuben sandwiches and potato chips with an expensive French Bordeaux poured into plastic cups and you even convince him to try one of those salty pickles you love so much. A plane approaches for a landing and flies only a few dozen feet above your head. He holds you and you both scream on top of your lungs as it roars past and then break into laughter; it is exhilarating! He reminds you of the day he almost lost you on one of those planes and then pulls a small box out of his pocket.

He painfully kneels before you, just like you have always imagined it, and in his shy and somewhat clumsy but wonderful way asks you to be his wife. He's ready to proudly proclaim that he is your man.

Your answer is in the long, passionate kiss you give him….

"Ready to Love Again" by Lady Antebellum (2:53)

You stare at each other--you with the baby's breath in your hair, your soft silver gown, him in his black suit and tie, looking so dashing, so perfect. You've waited so long for this day and now it's here and you can't believe it and yet…you can. You're both oblivious to your closest friends watching from the pews of the hospital chapel. This is where you met over six years ago, this hospital, amidst most of these people.

You think about what it took to bring you both to this place and time where you give your lives to each other. Both of you hurt in the past, running away from the possibility of getting hurt again; running away from love. You both played it safe, building walls and moats as protection. But in spite of your best efforts to end up alone and miserable, you both took one small chance on this time being different. That one choice was all it took to be standing here, ready to give your heart to him and him giving his to you. You're both ready to move on now, to love again…together.

"1, 2, 3, 4" by Plain White Ts (3:19)

You watch as your baby toddles up to the other child at the park and they investigate each other timidly. Your son looks over at you for reassurance and you give him a smile that you reserve for the two most important people in the world to you. He turns back around and reaches out to the little girl's face and touches it tentatively before walking up closer and grabbing her head and pulling it roughly to him; he plants a wet, drooly kiss on her face. You laugh…he's a chip off the ol' block alright!

His mother, your love, comes and sits on the bench next to you and takes your hand possessively. You love these moments when you are together just living life. No pomp, no circumstance, just together on the road of time. You think about how lucky you are to have her in your life, and now to have your son as well. You find it easier now to tell both of them how much you love them. You're no longer afraid of it. You lean over and whisper into her ear: I love you, Allison! Thank you for Jimmy and for loving me….

"The Dance" by Garth Brooks (3:40)

He lies in the bed you've shared for nearly twenty years, ten years longer than they gave him to live. His skin is pale, and wrinkles crease his brow, around his eyes. His once brilliant blue eyes are now pale like ice, but they look up at you with all the love he has to give you. His time is short now. There are so many things you want to say before it's too late. You want to tell him that you don't regret the trials before you were together, and the hard times as you lived your lives as one…because in the midst of those came the happiest years of your life. Making love, your marriage, laughing at corny TV shows, all of the monster truck rallies, the birth of your son, Jimmy's high school graduation, that trip to Paris you took on your nineteenth anniversary…they were all worth it. Your face is inches from his, his weak hands in yours, as he takes his last breaths on this mortal coil. You share I love yous and we'll meet agains, even though you doubt you will. And then…he's gone, and so is the best part of your soul. Jimmy hugs you and you look at him. He has his father's eyes. You realize that he'll always be with you in Jimmy….

-Fin-

End Note: That was tough! So, how did I do? I tried to stick to a theme without dreaming up in advance an agenda. I was lucky that the songs just seemed to go together so well. Sorry if this is too fluffy or OOC but when you've got less than five minutes to write, what can you do? Please review and thank you for reading!