A/N: You have my permission to kill me in a dark alley for taking so long to update. I've been traveling the world, and then I got really depressed about the spoilers for Season 4. Welcome to my life, here's the next chapter.

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For Cameron, the night after she told House to leave was pure torture. She couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could have been, might have happened if she could have just held on a little bit longer. She wished more than anything that House would someday feel something for her, but the more rational part of her quelled that hope, reminding her that people could wait a lifetime for something, but that didn't mean it would ever happen. She hated the rational part of her mind.

Most of all, she hated feeling helpless. Her feelings for House were completely out of control. If she'd had her way, she would have been over House a long time ago. It was a bad situation, and the only good thing she could see in it was that maybe there was a reason she just couldn't give up on the idea of House and her. On some nights, that notion was the only thing that kept her sane.

She thought of him all the time. As she listened to her favorite songs, she wondered whether he'd agree with her taste in music. She wondered whether he'd be surprised to learn that her favorite movie was "The Godfather", or whether he'd ever wanted to hold her like she had wanted him to. Since the encounter of the previous day, her musings had grown exponentially, until she felt like thoughts of House were going to force her out of her own mind. She paced back and forth across her living room, wondering why she was having so much difficulty with the situation. For the first time since she could remember, she was faced with a decision where there were no easy choices. It would be so easy to take a job in another state, to move away and never come back, to work herself to death and become renowned in her own respect, but at the same time, it would be heartbreakingly difficult.

The whole situation was too much for her to handle, so she did what any sane woman would do; grabbed the Cappuccino Chip ice cream and headed for the couch.

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House, on the other hand, was the master of denial. He appeared completely unaffected by the scene that had played out between himself and Cameron, and was engrossed in "General Hospital" when he heard a knock on the door. Groaning, he heaved himself off the couch and went to answer.

"What?" He asked, swinging the door open.

"What did she say?" Wilson asked, pushing past House into the apartment.

"You know, Jimmy, you like to gossip so much that I often wonder if you might just have had a sex change somewhere along the road. No man likes to talk about feelings the way you do."

"Deflecting the question. That means she said no."

"Are you willing to bet your life on that analysis?"

"You know that if you don't get her to come back soon, Cuddy's gonna hire someone else. You have to get off your ass and do something."

"Hmm...no thanks."

"House, will you just shut up and be serious for once?! You obviously have feelings for Cameron. You know it. I know it. I'm not going to bother going into that again, but seriously. If you don't do something right now, you're going to lose her, possibly forever." The words hung in the air as House took a swig from a nearby bottle of scotch.

"I tried." He finally admitted. "And she said no."

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A couple hours and several glasses of scotch later, House was tired and perhaps tipsier than he would have liked. However, he had finally succeeded in convincing Wilson to just go away. His overly sensitive friend had attempted to 'comfort' him, saying that House needed someone to talk to during this 'difficult time'. House groaned at the thought and pressed his face into a pillow. There was a muffled knock at the door.

"Jimmy, I told you! I'm FINE!" He shouted, flinging the door open. The person outside looked at him in surprise. "Well I guess I was right about that sex change thing after all." House smirked.

"Ha ha." Began a not-amused Cuddy. "So I take it from that little speech that Cameron said 'no'."

"Believe what you choose." House informed her.

"Well, I'm just here to tell you that if you don't get her to come back by Friday, she's not coming back at all. Goodnight." She turned on her heel and left as House shut the door and made his way to the fridge. He had almost finished the trek back to the couch when another knock was heard.

"Dammit, people, just leave me alone!" He flung open the door to see a very disheveled-looking Cameron. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were definitely red from crying. Even so, she was still ridiculously beautiful and House felt a lump rise in his throat just looking at her.

"Come on in." He told her quietly. She nodded and stepped inside, seating herself on the couch without a word. House crossed to the center of the room and waited for her to talk.

"I love this job." She began, her voice a little shaky. "I love the people, I love the work. It's interesting and fulfilling, and if it were just about professional things, I would stay here in a heartbeat. There's just one problem. I can't go back to the way things used to be, where I'd finally begin to feel good about myself, about my life, only to be cut down by you and spend the rest of the evening crying. I can't stay if you don't feel the way I feel. I'm done with hiding how I feel and pretending it doesn't hurt when you push me away. I don't want to spend every day watching you and wondering why you didn't want me. Sometimes, things just aren't meant to be, no matter how much we wish they were. I just have to let it go."

"So if you're leaving, why are you here."

"I know we're not especially close, but I don't really have any close friends. I just thought that maybe I could stay over here for a little while, just to have someone around. I mean, if you don't want me here, that's fine. Just say the word and I-."

"Okay." House said, more gently than anyone would have thought possible. "You can stay."

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If this were a romance novel, House and Cameron would have lost control sometime during that night. Whether out of want or need, or maybe some measure of desperation, the inevitable would have eventually come to pass. But this isn't, and they didn't, and the want and need lived on, unsatisfied. In reality, that night was filled with a little drinking and a lot of crying, as Cameron grieved over the life she was leaving behind. House listened, being almost sweet for once in his life, and Cameron talked to him as she would an old friend, telling him about how much it hurt to leave a job that she loved and a man that she'd spent so long imagining a future with. It was one of the least sexually charged moments the two ever shared, because the situation was so clear. Cameron was hurting, and House was just there to be her friend.

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It was late that night that Cameron finally dried her eyes and accepted House's offer that she stay and sleep on the couch. He left for his room, and when he came out in the morning, she was gone. There was no cliched, tearful goodbye, just simple, stark reality. It was unsettling to House how real and unreal it felt.

That entire day, House felt like a robot, actually doing his Clinic Hours without being asked, much less repeatedly reminded. He wandered around the hospital, doing his best to hide from the emptiness he felt in his chest, threatening to swallow him whole. Three times, he found himself in front of Cuddy's office, ready to tell her that Cameron had refused his offer, and three times, he hadn't been able to turn the handle. Finally, he just got on his motorcycle and drove.

At first, he drove without any clear thought to where he was going, but as he began to get nearer and nearer, he finally realized the destination to which his heart had been steering him all along. Killing the engine in front of Cameron's apartment complex, he walked up to the door and knocked twice. There was no trepidation or nervousness, only the feeling of necessity.

She didn't really look surprised to see him at the door, and she invited him inside quickly. He stood quietly inside her apartment, before opening his mouth to release the river of words that had been overwhelming him since she'd handed in her resignation.

"I don't know if you'll forgive me for being so blind. Don't ask me why I didn't see it, it might take me years to figure out, and that's not something I know too much about. I know that I hurt you. I know that I screwed up, and I'm sorry. There are things that have been left unsaid for far too long, and I just want to clear the air. I'm not going to beg you to stay if you want to go, but I want you to know that every time I see you walk out that door, the hell-hole I'm in gets a little darker. You are an excellent doctor, and a beautiful and captivating person, and if I've lost my chance with you, that's nobody's fault but my own. I guess what I'm saying is you've been so good to me and I haven't even remotely deserved it. I want to stop you from leaving, yell at you, grab your arm, whatever it takes. I want you to be here, to never leave, even when it gets hard, and I want you to want to stay. Right here. With me." He stopped speaking, and the words that he had spoken finally began to sink in.

"Thank you." Cameron looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You're welcome." He replied, his own voice growing husky as he turned to go. His hand was on the doorknob, when Cameron stopped him.

"No, you idiot, that's not what I meant." He turned around, not daring to believe it. "Thank you." She said once again. This time, though, her hands were around his neck before she could even finish speaking, and she stood on the tips of her toes to press her lips against his in a sweet, searing kiss. He could feel the wetness on her face, brushing softly against his skin. He gathered her up in his arms and held her close as he kissed back, not wanting to ever let her go again. For the first time since he was six years old, he felt complete. It was the best feeling in the world.