Why….. Just Another Letter In The Alphabet

Chapter 12: Making Amends

House slept like hell that night. He tossed and turned through most of it, torn about the way the evening had ended.

Finally, at 8 am he swung his feet over the side of the bed and grabbed his pills. After dry swallowing 2, he picked up his cane and made his way to the kitchen.

He flicked his coffee on and headed to the front door to get the paper.

He threw open the door and squinted into the bright sunlight before reaching down to grab the paper. When he stood up, he noticed his car was back, parked in front of the house.

Didn't I tell her I'd drive her back home…? He hobbled over to it when he noticed his keys attached to a small piece of paper underneath the windshield wiper.

He snatched it off and read it.

Greg-

I brought it back this morning before my run. Pick me up at 7. Don't be late.

A.C.

He felt an odd twinge when he realized she'd used his first name. She'd never done that before.

He was half tempted to crumble the paper up and throw it away but for some reason, he didn't. So he jammed it in his pocket and made his way back inside.

For her part, Cameron had been up since 6 am, trying her best not to think about the events of the night before. But she couldn't seem to keep her mind off of it. Why does he have to make this so hard?

Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. She couldn't just lie there anymore. She got herself out of bed and into her running clothes. She grabbed his keys off the table and headed out to the car.

She dropped it off at his house 10 minutes later. She glanced at his windows, looking for any sign of him. I'm sure he's still asleep. With that final thought, she'd secured his keys and the note and began her morning run.

Several hours later, she was finished with her work out and was standing under the warm spray of her shower, now feeling more than a little anxious about her upcoming evening. She knew it was important that people believed they were together… This was her chance, her only chance, to keep her job. And she knew the best thing to do in this situation would be to cooperate with House and get through the night.

She stepped out and toweled off, squeezing the excess water from her hair. She plugged in the blow dryer and got to work. She set her hair in rollers and carefully applied her makeup. As soon as she'd completed that and was satisfied with her appearance, she took down the rollers and styled her hair, pinning a few pieces back. She glanced over at the clock. It was 6:30. He better be on time. She grabbed her robe and headed to her room to get dressed.

She'd had the dress for awhile. It had been an impulse buy, one that she figured would come in handy eventually. She pulled it out of the closet. It was a long, strapless emerald green dress that draped elegantly over her curves. She slipped it on, the material cool against her skin. She pulled out the 4" silver stilettos she'd bought just in case she got to wear the dress. She grabbed her favorite perfume, sprayed it in a few select places and grabbed her purse and switched a couple of essential items into her silver clutch.

Then she pulled out the diamonds. Brian had bought her matching earrings, necklace and a bracelet as a wedding gift. She hadn't worn them much since then, as they stirred up quite a few memories, but for some reason, she wanted that feeling. Her memories of Brian were always good ones and she felt like she would need that kind of comfort tonight.

She fastened the diamond droplets in her earlobes and secured the necklace around her neck. The bracelet was designed like a braid and was her favorite piece. She ran her fingers over it once it was in place. Brian had always complimented her when she wore her jewelry.

Flashback

Allison strode into the living room where Brian was waiting. They were going out to dinner for their 1 month anniversary. Brian had been feeling horrible the last few days but he had insisted they go out anyways.

He glanced up from his position in front of the TV and his jaw dropped. "Wow Ally… You look… Amazing…" He breathed, taking in her little black dress and sparkling diamonds.

"Thanks. But Bri, if you don't feel well…" She trailed off, still feeling a little bad agreeing to go out that night.

"No, Ally, I'm feeling much better now… Besides, can't let those diamonds go to waste!"

End Flashback

She smiled at the memory and caught the single tear before it even reached her cheek. "God Bri, I wish you were here, I wish I was doing this with you.… If you could just see me…"

A moment later, the bell rang. "Show time." She muttered, grabbing her clutch and patting her hair into place one last time before heading to the door.

He was nervous. He was appalled at himself for being nervous but that did nothing to stop his nervousness. This is just a woman. A woman you are pretending to date so she can keep her job. That's it.

Even that reminder did nothing to stop his turning stomach. He glanced at his appearance once before grabbing the keys to the corvette and heading out.

Twenty minutes later he was in front of her house, having an inner battle as to whether he should get out of the car and knock on the door or just honk the horn.

He sighed loudly. He knew he couldn't honk. He had been accused of a lot of things, but he'd never been accused of treating a woman poorly and he didn't want to start now.

He rapped on her front door a few moments later. He heard footsteps approaching the door. A second later, she swung open the door.

He was all prepared to make some sort of sarcastic remark but the words died in his throat. She was stunning. She wasn't just some woman he was pretending to date. She was… She was the most incredible woman he'd ever seen.

She was watching him watch her, which was making him increasingly uncomfortable.

He cleared his throat. "You look beautiful." He told her, his eyes on her the whole time.

She offered a small smile. "Thank you." She replied dutifully as she grabbed her wrap and purse and followed him out the door.

The ride over was quiet and tense. He could tell she was deep in thought over something.

"What's the matter?" He asked at last, not really even wanting to ask the question.

"Nothing that tonight won't hopefully fix." She replied quietly, her tone indicating her desire to end the conversation.

He knew how to take a hint. He'd made a mistake last night and now he was paying for it.

They pulled up to the hospital several minutes later. House got out and handed his keys to the valet. Cameron was waiting for him as he made his way to her side.

"Call me Ally." She instructed as he came to a stop at her side.

He furrowed his brow at her. "It's going to be odd if we're still calling each other by our last names since we're supposed to be dating. It's fine if we're on the clock, but when we're not, I'm Ally. You're Greg." She explained as she loosely tucked her hand into the crook of his arm.

"Ally?" He questioned.

"I've never been Allison. I don't feel comfortable with it." She replied tightly as they walked in the door.

He didn't get to respond because a moment later, people were on them.

The night went by quickly, Allison's story seemed to be working, people were buying it, much to her relief. They managed to get through most of the evening with very little interaction with each other. Dinner was served and eaten in silence.

After that, the dance floor began to fill up. He watched her as she turned her eyes to the floor.

"Did you and Brian dance?" He ventured, his voice soft and sincere.

She whirled on him, fully prepared to defend her dead husband. But the look in his eyes was serious. He was being genuine.

"Yes." Was all she said before turning her attention back to the floor.

He sighed heavily. He had to fix this. He had to at least attempt to make this better. He owed her that much, given his behavior the night before.

He hooked his cane on the chair and stood. He limped around her chair and held out his hand.

She glanced over when his hand appeared in front of her face. She looked up. Oh my…. He wants to dance with me…

"Can you even…" She trailed off.

"I can dance." He replied softly and gestured for her hand.

She slipped her hand into his and silently followed him to the floor.

They took a few steps onto the dance floor before he stopped and swiftly pulled her to him.

She felt his right arm wrap around her waist and he took her small hand in his left. His movements were careful and deliberate, he was trying not to limp as much as possible. She let him lead and allowed herself to move a little closer to him, breathing in his scent.

"Your necklace is beautiful." He told her, his voice gruff against her ear.

She flinched a bit under his words. She pulled back to look him in the eye. "They were my wedding gift from my first husband." The words were meant to be informative but came off as more of a challenge, as if she was daring him to badmouth her dead husband.

"He had great taste." He replied simply, and pulled her back towards him, not wanting to upset her further.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear, the scent of coconut wafting off her hair and invading his nose.

Those were two words that definitely didn't come out of his mouth often, at least not sincerely.

"Thank you." She replied, her voice barely audible.

He felt a bit of relief course through him. This is much easier when she's not mad at me.

He felt like the luckiest bastard in the room with Cameron in his arms. He knew people were watching, waiting to see if it was real. But at that moment, there was no need to try to prove anything. It was real.

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