CHAPTER 14
Things were going well.
Cameron was almost…blissful. Although House rarely (if at all) openly spoke of his feelings for her, he had her convinced that they were indeed in a relationship.
And it even seemed to be progressing.
She found herself spending more and more time at his apartment – to a point where she was there more than at her own. He appeared comfortable with this arrangement; there were even times when he was so at ease in her presence that he had temporarily let his guard down and wore a genuine smile on his face.
Work was a different story. House made every effort to make sure he was her cruel and insensitive boss and nothing more. It didn't bother her though; there were just too many factors that favored keeping their involvement a secret – at least for now.
But it was slightly concerning that House had kept Wilson in the dark as well.
Cameron had expected him to flaunt their relationship (or their sex life to be exact) in Wilson's face, and even prepared herself to be the recipient of the annoyingly smug expression that Wilson wears whenever he is in on some juicy gossip. The sensible part of her knew he wanted to protect 'them', but the unreasonable part couldn't help but wonder if he was so ashamed of being with her that he couldn't even tell his best friend.
All things considered though, things were going well, and she found it nearly impossible to hide the grin on her face as she strolled purposefully towards his office with the latest lab results in her hand.
She missed him. Not only that, but she was even looking forward to whatever sarcastic remark he would throw her way this time.
Stop being silly, Allison, she scolded.
And that's when she realized he was not alone.
There was a familiar blond figure, one who Cameron had last seen in his home, flirtingly brushing her fingers through her hair as he spoke.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.
She decided it was probably best to keep her presence unnoticed.
But it was too late.
"Dr. Cameron." House bellowed. "Are you looking for me?"
Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the room. The anxiety and self consciousness reminded her of the very first time she set foot in this same office.
"I just wanted to drop off our patient's test results." she declared casually, passing the folder to him before acknowledging Honey's presence with a small smile.
He was amazed at her nonchalance.
Either she has a lot of trust in me or she is faking her lack of concern.
Her eyes shifted uncomfortably to the floor. "I better go finish the other tests."
Ah ha, House smirked to himself, she is totally faking this. Deciding to forgo the wicked thought to mess with her a little longer, he held out his cane to block her path.
She turned to stare at him in confusion.
"Dinner tonight?" he asked gently but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
She broke into a mischievous smile at his words. "As soon as my boss let's me leave. Of course, if he knew I had a date, he might get jealous and make me run pointless tests the whole night."
"You better not let him catch you dream about your hot date then." he warned, stepping closer. "I hear he knows everything."
He pressed his lips lightly to hers. "I'll cook tonight. See you at home, Allison."
Things were definitely going well.
Blissful would be way too strong of a word to describe House.
Although he was far from his old miserable self, things were going a bit too well for his comfort.
During his relationship with Stacy, they went at it like rabbits unless they were in an argument – but that was all it was, at least in the first two years they were together.
Sex was definitely not an issue with Cameron. In fact, it was probably the best he's had for as long as he could remember. But there were nights when he found himself wanting to simply hold her by his side and feel the warmth of her body against his.
It was the intimacy of their newfound relationship that bothered him.
Not to mention her ability to make him willingly commit completely out-of-character acts.
He had just kissed her without considering that they were at work simply because at that moment, reassuring her seemed to matter more than anything else.
She was chipping away at his exterior shell, slowly but surely revealing a softer part of him that he didn't quite know existed; and the most terrifying thing was that despite this loss of control, he was feeling genuinely content.
He had never felt anything even remotely similar, and he couldn't help but think that this was all too good to be true.
That she was too good to be true.
No wonder his vicodin intake had reduced so much lately; his addiction had moved on.
And he feared that the object of his addiction will soon realize that what he had to offer was nothing compared to what she deserved.
He shook his head as he started his way out of his office towards the lab.
For some reason unknown to him, he felt a need to explain the reason for his unexpected visitor.
"It's Tuesday." Chase declared smugly.
Cameron rolled her eyes. "It better be since yesterday was Monday."
"I like you." His weekly reminders were becoming so ridiculous that it would not be considered unkind (even in Cameron's standards) if she exploded with annoyance.
Fortunately for him though, House had put Cameron in a cheerful mood.
"I like you too, Chase…" she began softly, "but not in the same way. I like you as a colleague and as a friend, but nothing more. Reminding me every week will just push me away until we can't even be friends anymore. So please stop."
She didn't notice the tall the figure that retreated from the lab's entrance at her first words.
House could deduce the rejection in Cameron's voice. Normally, his egotism would've drawn him instantly into the room to mock the pretty boy's idiocy.
But this time, he embraced the idea that ignorance is bliss – just in case he was wrong.
House was working the oven when Cameron found her way into his apartment.
She greeted him with a light peck on the cheek before extracting two glasses from the cupboard and pouring each of them a drink from the half-empty bottle of wine leftover from the night before.
He stepped behind her, slipping his arms around her tiny waist. "Dinner will be ready soon."
"I missed you, Greg." she whispered as she leaned into his muscled chest.
"You're hard to please." he teased, pressing his lips to the side of her neck. "You just saw me a few hours ago."
"Actually, I haven't seen you since this morning."
House winced. She didn't see him because he had spent most of the day in hiding as he attempted to remove the grotesque idea of Cameron and Chase together from his mind.
"I was hiding from Cuddy." he lied.
He wasn't going to let his insecurities ruin things…yet.
They stood holding one another until he broke the silence quietly.
"Allison, you can ask me."
"Ask you what?" she asked in confusion.
His lips grazed her neck once again. "She came to return my shirt."
"You don't have to explain." she replied softly, turning to face him. "I trust you."
It was true; never for a moment today did she doubt his unspoken feelings for her. But that didn't mean it wasn't troubling that Honey had in her possession something so personal of his.
He tightened his arms around her as if he had sensed her thoughts. "Allison, I'll give you exclusive rights to my shirts and whack whoever tries to come near them from now on."
It was such a lame thing to say that he could hear his reputation snicker in his head.
"Then you'll have to whack everyone who walks close to you," she quipped, "unless you plan to be shirtless all the time."
"Well, lucky you then. You get to admire my bare body all the time."
"I don't want you naked in front of other people." she protested, lips puckered momentarily before hitting him lightly on the arm.
He grinned inwardly at her show of possessiveness. "It's just you." he mumbled softly as he leaned down to capture her lips in his.
"I know," she replied smugly, "but it sure does feel good to hear you say it."
"Oh you tricked me into this, didn't you?" He tugged her hair playfully. "You are so going to be punished tonight."
"Part of my plan too." she retorted with a wide smile.
He couldn't help but let out a muffled chuckle as he gently shoved her out of the kitchen.
"Now get out of my way so we can have dinner."
House was lying in bed hours later with Cameron in his arms. As he held her in the darkness, he could no longer prevent his doubts from overtaking his rational mind.
So blaming his next words on the still of the night, he spoke.
"You're too good for me."
She turned to face him in a mixture of puzzlement and disbelief.
"What?"
"Allison, what are you doing with me?"
Her stare hardened. "No," she said firmly, "I'm not letting you do this."
"It's true." he insisted quietly.
She located his gaze before speaking with such force it brought a slight shiver to his spine. "You can doubt yourself all you want, Greg. But don't you dare doubt my feelings for you."
She then pressed her lips to his.
Her kiss was aggressive as she tried to impart him with enough self worth and common sense to put his insecurities to rest.
"Does this mean nothing to you?" she asked when they parted moments later.
Of courseit did. Hell, even every eye contact shared between them in the last three years meant something to him.
But instead, he let out the one word that had been plaguing his mind.
"Chase."
If he didn't notice her anger before, he could most certainly see the flames in her eyes now.
"What does Chase have to do with this?" she demanded. "What does he have to do with us?"
"You like him."
House grimaced as his accusation echoed through his ears.
For a moment, she found his words so incredulous that she was almost convinced that he was high.
But then she noticed the hint of guilt in his eyes.
"You eavesdropped on my conversation?"
He glanced away, fully knowing that it was meant as a statement and not a question.
"Greg, next time you decide to question my feelings for you based on something you overhear, listen to all of it. I told him I liked him, but only as a colleague and a friend!" she exclaimed furiously.
He believed her words wholeheartedly. He really did.
But he was an idiot who screws up all the good things in his life.
"You like him." he repeated, crossing the invisible line once again.
She climbed out of his bed in search for her clothes. He didn't try to stop her; he was well aware that nothing could redeem his baseless allegation at this point.
He watched silently as disappointment replaced the anger in her eyes.
"House, I'm not mad because you listened in on my conversation; I have nothing to keep from you. I'm mad because there was never Chase, and I'm willing to bet you anything, anything at all, that you knew that. I just can't believe you're using that to push me away."
Twelve footsteps later, he heard his apartment door shut close.
TBC
A/N: Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've updated! I'm currently on vacation and traveling around…I've been writing here and there, but couldn't get online until today to post this. Thanks everyone for your encouragement and comments – I really appreciate them and I'm so sorry I haven't been responding like I usually do.
Anyways, hope you guys like this update! I will try to post some more the next time I find a connection. If not, I'll see you guys in 2 weeks and update with full force then!
HouseCam