Disclaimer- Nothing related to the TV show House belongs to me. Do you seriously think the pairings would be how they are if I had any control whatsoever?
A/N- Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are. This little idea popped into my head as I was waking up, and my muse wouldn't let it go, so, in honor of the Olympics (though I'm a little late) here's something for my readers. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review!
The Uncommon Olympian
House walked into a communal lounge and found Cameron plopped down on a couch, her feet rested upon the coffee table in front of it. She laughed quietly and shook her head disbelievingly at something she read in the magazine she was holding. Curious, he strode over and sat down next to her. She looked over and jumped a little in shock.
"House! You scared me half to death!" She accused.
"Good thing we're in a hospital." He replied sarcastically. At that, Cameron sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned back to her article. House looked over her shoulder at what she was reading. It appeared to be an article on Michael Phelps.
"I don't see what's so great about that guy." House said. Cameron's eyes widened and she turned to him, stunned.
"He's the greatest Olympian in history!" She exclaimed, "He won eight gold metals in Beijing! Six in Athens! He has sixteen total Olympic metals!"
"Okay, okay, he's good at what he does. I still don't get what everybody's so excited about."
"House, he has more gold metals than any other Olympian ever. He beat Mark Spitz's thirty-six-year-old record of seven golds in one Olympics. He shattered his own world records!" House sighed resignedly.
"Alright, I give. I guess that is sort of impressive." Deciding that this was the most agreement she would get, Cameron continued reading.
"What's that?" House asked, pointing at a small box in the corner of the page that showcased several different breakfast dishes.
"What he eats for breakfast." Cameron answered without looking up.
"All of that?"
"Mmhm, everyday."
"Then how does he look like…" House's voice trailed off as he searched for a picture. Once he found one, he pointed at it. "that?" Cameron smiled.
"He swims at superhuman speeds for more than eight hours a day." This was enough to impressive even House.
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Were you ever in sports?" He asked suddenly. Taken aback by the question, Cameron had to gather her thoughts.
"I was a cheerleader in high school, though you probably don't consider that a sport." She finally answered.
"From what I hear, cheerleaders are very good at other…physical things." He said, waggling his eyebrows for effect. Cameron smirked.
"You may be right," she replied, "but you had your chance."
"If I had known you were a cheerleader, maybe I would have taken that chance." He suggested.
"I doubt it." Cameron replied, with just a hint of sadness. "How about you?" She asked, redirecting the conversation, "Did you play anything?" House faked an incredulous look.
"Um, hello? Cripple."
"Yeah, for the past what, ten years? I know you had a life before the infarction."
"Fine, fine. I played lacrosse for awhile. I was pretty good. Great, actually." He informed her, though his self-praise didn't sound arrogant. It sounded wistful; she could tell he missed those days.
"I'm sure you were. You are, after all, pretty much great at everything you try." Cameron blushed, she hadn't meant to complement him, but it came effortlessly; perhaps a latent ability left over from the years she had tried to win his heart.
"Almost everything." He amended. Cameron's brows furrowed in confusion. "There's one thing I really suck at." Cameron relaxed her expression, waiting for him to finish the thought. When he didn't, she prodded.
"What?"
"Relationships. I was never good at those, still not." Cameron had known this since the day she met him, yet she was still surprised at his revelation. She finally thought of a proper response.
"I said you're great at everything you try, House. You don't try relationships, and you can't be successful in something you don't make an effort towards. That probably doesn't make much sense to you, because I'm almost certain everything comes easy to you, but the average person has to work to be good at what they want to be good at." House nodded, realizing the truth in her statements.
"Do you wish I would have tried with you?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.
"You know I do, but I understand. Trying a relationship is a risk for anyone, but you're more wary of it than most people. The person you decide to try with has to be everything you've ever wanted. They have to be good enough for you to risk, well…everything. I wasn't that person. I wanted to be, I think that was pretty obvious. God knows I tried to be, but sometimes, even trying your hardest isn't enough. I had to learn that the hard way with you, because even though not everything has been easy for me, relationships always have been. It was a new experience for me to have to put effort into simply getting a man's attention, and it didn't work out. That's to be expected though, it's not normal to be good at something the first time you try it." Cameron finished her speech with a self-depreciating smirk, and glanced over at House. His face was blank. She knew this couldn't end well; she had to bail, and quickly. "I should go…" She said, but as she moved to get up, he grabbed her wrist. She stumbled and collapsed back onto the couch. Before she could yell at him, his lips were on hers. Shocked, but pleased, she allowed herself to enjoy the sensation of his kiss. When he pulled away, a wave of coldness washed over her.
"You think I didn't think you were good enough?" House asked her, amazedly. Still stunned, all Cameron could manage was a nod. He kissed her again, quickly this time. "And all this time I thought you were so smart…"
"House…" She said sadly, "what do you want from me?" He gave her the deepest kiss yet, only pulling away when oxygen deprivation threatened to make him unconscious.
"Does that answer your question? He asked quietly, his lips lingering on her cheek.
"As much as I enjoyed that…no." She said honestly. "If you just want…that, then I won't do it." She winced at her word choice, he noticed and laughed quietly. "I need to know what you're expecting."
"Are you seriously asking me my intentions?" He asked amusedly as he pulled away to look her in the eyes.
"As pathetic as that may sound, yes. I guess I am."
"I don't know," He answered, "but I'm trying, right?" She nodded.
"Yes."
"How did I do?" He asked.
"Well…" She began, and gave him a peck on the lips, "you may not be able to play lacrosse anymore, but if this," another kiss, "was an Olympic event, I'd give you the gold." He smiled genuinely at her, and then his pager went off, effectively ruining the moment. He looked down and then back at her face.
"We'll finish this discussion later." He promised uncharacteristically, and kissed her cheek sweetly. Then he stood, and limped out the door. Cameron smiled at the prospect of talking with House later, 'He actually said we'd talk!' and watched her Olympian, cane in hand and Vicodin in pocket, go to save someone's life…or berate his team, whichever came first.
THE END
A/N- So, did you like? Leaving a review is hardly an Olympian task (sorry, I couldn't resist) so why not try? (Wow, somebody please press the 'bad puns off' button.)