Summery: Just read…
Spoilers: Up until midway through "Heavy" and takes a twist.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: You know I don't own it! I play.
A/N: Again, sorry about the delay in chapters. I wish I could thank you all by name for your wonderful reviews, but that would take up like 5 pages! LOL Anyway, on with the show!
Cameron paused in front of the elevators. "Us," she repeated disbelievingly. "House, there is no 'us'. The minute I showed signs of getting stronger and becoming more confident, you got scared and jealous and went right back to your old bitter self."
"Jealous? That is the second time you've accused me of being jealous of someone. Whom could I possibly be jealous of?"
"You are jealous that I went out with Troy on last Thursday and not you."
"Oh, yes. 'Troy'," he replied, complete with air quotes. "You could have at least said Wilson. That might have been believable." Foot, say hello to mouth. Good job, asshole. Dig yourself a deeper hole.
She smiled bitterly and pressed the 'down' button. "Jealous and in denial. Another reason why this 'us' you speak of does not exist." Confusion crossed over her features. "So I have no idea why you even bothered to bring this up in the first place." Cameron pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm tired, House. I have a massive headache. I'm going to go downstairs, get some coffee, finish up a few more files for the Immunology Department and go home." Seeing the elevator doors open, she hopped on. "This conversation is over."
"I wasn't finished," House stated, frowning.
"Well I was!" The doors shut and she was gone.
He angrily thumped his cane on the floor, trying to think of what to do next. Number 1: Retrieve foot from mouth. Number 2: Follow her. Number 3: Stop. Being. An. Ass. He pressed the down button and waited.
Cameron sighed as she waited for the pot to brew. It figured that there would be none made. She always made it. Why would anyone bother to refill it? The alarm on the pot dinged to signal the coffee was ready. She fixed herself a cup and inhaled the warm, nutty goodness of it. The caffeine would help clear her head. Cameron turned around to head back to work, prize in hand—almost smack dab into House.
"Gaah!" she yelped, as she jolted backwards, completely startled. Effectively spilling coffee all over herself. Again.
"I told you I wasn't done with our talk."
She ignored his
statement and looked forlornly at the front of her formerly clean
scrub top.
"Cameron?"
"Why me," she asked, ignoring him. "All I wanted was a cup of coffee. But no, I can't even get that. First it wasn't made, now it's all over me. You don't know what the hell you want. I do. I want coffee."
House just looked at her while she rambled on.
"… spilled all over me twice! Now I have to go get another set of scrubs from laundry. I already ruined my favorite blouse. I just want to be left alone and drink—not wear—some coffee." She shook her head and stormed out of the room. House just stared after her. "I think I've made her go round the bend," he muttered to himself.
"Umm, House?"
He looked up to see Wilson in the doorway and sighed in resignation. "What now, James?"
"I just saw Cameron in the hallway. What happened?"
"I think I broke her."
"What does that mean?
"I blew it the first time I tried to talk to her a little while ago, and she walked away from me."
"Ah. So you acted like yourself." That earned a glare from House.
"Then," he continued, ignoring Wilson, "I tried to talk to her just now, but she spilled coffee all over herself and as a result went crazy."
"Ah. So that's why she was muttering to herself about evil coffee."
Cameron was sitting on a bench in the women's locker room after she changed into yet another pair of fresh scrubs. She put her head in her hands and rubbed her temples. Her headache had gotten a hundred times worse than a half hour ago. This had officially turned in to the worst day ever.
She heard the locker room door open, and looked up to see who entered.
"Okay, I lied," she muttered, closing her eyes. "Now this is officially the worst day ever." Cam paused, waiting for House to make a witty remark. After a minute of nothing, she peeked open an eye. He was still just standing there in front of the door. "What? No snappy remark?"
"Nope. Just making sure you're calm before I try to speak again."
She flushed, remembering her rant of a few minutes ago. "I've been having a bad day."
"Because of me."
"Yes, mostly because of you."
"I'm sorry."
Her head whipped around at that comment. The words lacked any sarcasm or false undertones. She looked at him. He wasn't smirking or smiling or fidgeting. Just standing there looking calm.
"Well… you should be," was all she could say.
House sat down next to her. "Now I want you to let me talk, okay? I'm going to do something I normally don't do. So just shut up and listen, and I will try not to be an asshole for 5 minutes."
"Can I time you?"
"Don't be a smartass. I'm trying here. And I tried earlier, in front of the elevators. But my personality overtakes my brain sometimes and I turn into the jerk you know and love." He paused for a minute to gather himself.
Cameron looked at him. He looked very sincere and sober, a great change from earlier. "Go on," she encouraged.
He took a deep breath. "You were right."
"I'm sorry? What was that?"
He glared at her as to say, I told you not to be a smartass. Shut it. Clenching his teeth, he said, tightly, "I said, you were right." He paused again, trying to gather to courage to tell her the truth. "I was jealous."
The next part of his confession came out in one big rush. "And I'm sorry I ditched you Thursday. I was so jealous of seeing you with Dr. Stevens, I thought… Well I thought once someone younger and better looking than me was in the picture, you'd forget about me and this friendship we've formed over the past months. You've broken past this barrier I have against relationships and love and after Dr. Stevens, any thoughts of me actually trying to get the courage to from a real relationship again just… well, they were crushed, okay? Like a little teenager who saw his crush just kiss the starting quarterback." House took a deep breath and looked at Cameron out of the corner of his eye. "Okay, I'm done not acting like myself."
Cameron was silent. One minute passed, then two. House became fidgety. After the fifth minute of silence and pretty much no movement from her side of the bench, he couldn't take it anymore. "Well? Slap me, mock me, laugh at me! Just give me some kind of reaction!"
She nodded her head. "Okay." Then she leaned over a placed a soft kiss on his lips.
After they parted, House just stared at her.
"What," she asked in response to his silence.
"Uh, yeah. I wasn't expecting that."
Cameron smiled. "You see? You stop being a jerk for just a few minutes and you get rewards. Who would have thought?"
He raised his eyebrows. "So… does this mean we're good?"
At that she laughed. "Not even close." She ticked off each stipulation on her fingers. "I want dinner, movies, flowers, presents, and romance. Okay, well, you're not the romance type. All the rest, though. You wanna make things right, you better get crackin'."
House finally relaxed and let a small smile grace his features. He was going to push his luck with one more thing though. "How much longer do you have on the lease for your apartment?"
"That's an abrupt change of subject. About 6 months before I have to renew, why?"
"Well, it's been kind of empty since you moved back to your place. And I seem to be having an awful time falling asleep lately all by myself…"
Cameron stood up and smiled. "Oh really?"
"Really really."
"I see." She turned to leave the locker room. Glancing back, she noticed House still sitting on the bench. She reached out her hand and said, "Well? Are you coming or what?
House stood up and grabbed her hand. Cameron leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll at least pick up some clothes for tonight," she said, as they left the room together.
He smiled to himself. It was a start.
The End (For real this time! No more extentions!)
A.N. Sorry if it was OOC towards the end, but it took me forever to get out this chapter and I didn't want you guys to wait anymore! So I hope it was concluded to everyone's satisfaction! Thanks for all the great reviews!