Cameron

Clearing his throat, Wilson slowly stepped back, his arms dropping from her hips to hang by his sides, shoulders tensed and hunched up around his ears.

"Well." He coughed uncomfortably. "That was…"

"Awkward?" Cameron asked dryly.

"I was going to go with, 'kind of like kissing my sister', but yes, awkward will do." He grinned at her, shoulders relaxing, and Cameron couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

She'd known the instant their lips had touched that it wasn't going to happen. There's been no chemistry. No zing. Nothing that made her stomach quiver.

And that was damn disappointing.

"I'm sorry. I just thought…" Sighing, she leaned forward and pressed her head into his shoulder, relaxing when his arms came up to pull her in for a quick hug. Wilson chuckled.

"It's a sad day when I let a pretty woman apologize for kissing me." He pressed a quick, comfortable kiss on the top of her head. "I understand. I wondered too. And now…well, now we know."

"Now we know." Cameron's voice trailed off on a sigh. She'd hoped, really hoped, that there would be something there with Wilson. Or at least, she thought she'd hoped. She'd spent weeks listing out all the reasons in her head why they would be good together. He was level headed. Responsible. Not a drug addict. He loved Stevie, and he was always, unfailingly there for her. She admired him, cared about him. Surely something had to come out of that, right?

If she was honest with herself, when she'd leaned in to kiss him after he got done fixing her TV, she'd been hoping that he'd be able to wipe the memory of House out of her mind.

God knows nothing else was doing it, and she was tired of it. Tired of sleeping alone at night. Tired of struggling with Stevie by herself. Parenting was hard, damn it. And sex. Oh god, she missed sex. But you couldn't pick up a guy at a bar and bring him home when you had a kid. And you couldn't indiscriminately sleep with your co-workers. The last two times she'd tried that, she'd wound up with a divorce and a baby.

So she'd been hoping, really hoping, that this thing she had going with Wilson was going to go somewhere. But that kiss just blew all those hopes out of the water.

"Ahem." Wilson tapped her gently on the shoulder before turning her around toward the big, open front window. She turned, amused yet grateful that they weren't they weren't going to dwell on her current state of embarrassment…and felt her stomach hit her toes.

Relaxed back on the seat of his bike, eyes shaded by the visor of his helmet, face turned toward the front window where she and Wilson were currently standing, was House. She was torn between a sharp, fleeting anger that he had the audacity to show up after making himself scarce for the first four months of Stevie's life, desperate embarrassment that he'd obviously seen her throwing herself at Wilson, and a desperate, hopeful longing at the possibility that he might be coming back.

And how pathetic was that?

"I ought to call the police," she grumbled, turning away from the window to look back at Wilson. She was very aware that his arms were still around her now, but she forced herself not to care. Wilson had held her like this a thousand times, when she'd been tired, when she'd been angry, when she'd been sure she wasn't going to survive single parenthood after House walked out on her. When she'd needed someone to remind her that jumpsuit orange wasn't her color, and the foster care system sucked, so she didn't REALLY want to kill House.

If House had a problem with it, he could have been there for any of the above. He wasn't. His choice, not hers. Which meant she had nothing to feel guilty about.

"I…don't think I would do that." Wilson sounded amused now, damn him. "I know he hasn't done anything to deserve it, but maybe you should give him a chance."

"I gave him a chance. I had his damn kid, didn't I? I came back here, let him slide back into my life, then watched him walk right back out it. I can't do it again." Her voice was soft now, thick and heavy with misery she didn't even try to hide. She couldn't do it again. She just couldn't. Whatever the hell House wanted, he could turn around and drive off on his bike and forget her address.

Cameron was fairly certain if she opened her heart to House, one more time, and he left her again, there wouldn't be anything left to put back together.

"You did. And if you decide not to give him another one, no one is going to hold it against you. God knows, nobody could blame you. Just…think about it, okay?" Wilson planted one more kiss on the top of her head, squeezing her tight, then stepped back to scoop his coat off the couch.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Cameron knew her voice was frantic now, but she couldn't help it. She'd been at her wit's end when Wilson had walked through the door. Stevie was miserable between shots and teeth, and she'd been screaming all afternoon. She'd completely missed her nap, and both she and mommy were wiped out. Wilson showing up had been a godsend-she'd passed the screaming baby over and taken a quick shower, and by the time she came back out Stevie was asleep in her swing and Wilson was crouched behind the TV, fixing whatever she'd managed to crosswire when she'd installed the new Amazon Fire.

She was pretty sure she was going to lose it if he left her to deal with Stevie AND House on her own.

"I'm going to take a walk. A long walk," he added with a smile and a pointed look outside. "Say, about half an hour. Then I'm going to come back, and we're going to dig into the ice cream you thought you hid in the back of the freezer. Then we can go from there." Reaching out, he tipped her chin up a little so she was looking straight into his eyes. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to," he said softly. "Remember that."

With that he turned and walked out the front door, leaving her staring after him in frustration. It wasn't a matter of what she did and didn't want to do. The problem was what she DID want to do, which was throw herself at House like the last four months didn't happen. Like everything was forgiven and forgotten. Like they could just go on like they always had, and he could do what the hell ever he wanted.

She couldn't do that. She had a kid to worry about now, a kid that deserved a helluva lot better than an on again, off again dad. But oh god she missed him. So what the hell was she supposed to do?

Looked like she needed to figure that out, fast. Wilson stopped to talk to House for a minute, then turned and strolled down her block while House slowly unclipped his helmet, picked what looked like a bouquet of slightly worse for wear roses out of his saddlebag, and hobbled up her walkway.

She didn't wait for him to knock, just went over and opened the door. He paused for a moment when he saw her standing there, then kept walking until they were face to face.

Cameron was tempted to let him stand outside, but it was cold and her heating bill was already ridiculous. So instead she turned around and walked back into the house, leaving him on his own to come in, close the door behind him and follow her into the little dining area.

She flopped down in one of the chairs at the table, surprised to realize he hadn't followed her that far. Looking around, she realized why. He was standing quietly next to Stevie's swing, watching the sleeping child rock back and forth. The longing and regret on his face nearly took the wind out of her sails.

She'd never been able to refuse him anything when he'd been human.

"If you wake her up, I will kill you," she warned softly, making him smile, just a little. Turning, he hobbled in an exaggerated tiptoe over, taking the time to take off his jacket and set the flowers in front of her on the table. His hands were white as ice, and without him having to ask she got up and poured him a cup of coffee.

"Thank you," he said quietly when she sat back down. They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound the gentle whirr of Stevie's motorized swing. In the end, it was Cameron who broke the silence.

"What are you doing here, House?"

He was quiet for a minute, so long she thought he was just going to ignore her. Then he said, "Do you remember when you asked me why I wanted to know why you liked me?"

"Yeeesss," she said slowly, cheeks flushing as she flashed back to that day. God, how did he even remember that? She would often think of that as the moment she realized there was no going back for her. The day House had stood up for his team, then refused to bend under pressure. Had refused to lie about something that mattered to him, even though he knew it was going to cost him.

"You asked what I wanted to hear." He looked up at her with those heartbreaking blue eyes. "I wanted you to tell me that I could be a good person. That I was capable of doing the right thing and helping you all keep your jobs, even if it meant swallowing my pride and giving Vogler what he wanted."

"And you came to me for that?" she asked, incredulous.

"You were the only one I would have believed it from." He sucked in a deep breath, then said, without breaking eye contact, "You were-are-the only one who's ever made me think I could be a better person. Who's ever made me WANT to be a better person. It was true then, and it's true now. I was scared," he hurried on when she opened her mouth to argue. "When I saw you bleeding out on that OR bed, when I saw Stevie all limp and blue in that incubator, I was scared. I was afraid I was going to lose you, and I was afraid it was all going to be my fault.

"I've been having nightmares for months," he said quietly. "Every time I close my eyes, that's all I can see. Only there, Dr. Lee can't stop the bleeding, and the NICU team can't get Stevie stabilized. And it's all my fault, because I didn't realize you weren't well until it was too late. I lose you both, every night, and it's all my fault," he finished on a rush of air, head hanging now, refusing to look at her. "It's a miracle you two are still here, and I figured…well, I figured both of you being alive was so much more than I had the right to ask for."

"House." As he closed his eyes and a single tear trickled down the side of her face-the first time she'd seen House cry, ever-Cameron felt the ice around her heart shatter. She saw, for the first time, the damage the guilt of the past four months had done to him. He was thin to the point of insanity, the dark circles underneath his eyes testifying to months of sleepless nights. Before she could talk herself out of it she walked around the table and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeaking in surprise when he pulled her down onto his lap. He buried his face in her neck and wrapped his arms around her, holding her so close she could barely breathe.

"I'm sorry, Cameron. I'm so fucking sorry," he muttered.

With a sigh, she laid her cheek against his hair and thought about what to do next. She could send him away, contact her lawyer to set up child support and visitation and wash her hands of him and his issues once and for all. It was what a sane person could do.

But then, House had always made her a little bit crazy. She'd been in love with the jerk for years, and right now she had all the power. Maybe it wasn't too far fetched to take a leap of faith. It was, after all, kind of her thing.

"I love you," she whispered, feeling him tense and go still. Heart pounding, she leaned back to see his face. "I love you," she said again, pressing a palm gently against his cheek. "I can forgive you for being an idiot, because I know what it's like to be scared and I know you'd rather cut off your arm than talk about your feelings. I can forgive you because I know you've been working yourself to death since Stevie was born, and now I know it's not because you regretted having her."

House opened his mouth, but she firmly planted a hand over it. "Nuh uh. My turn." She grinned as a flash of amusement sparked in his eyes. "I thought you were sorry she happened, and that's why you walked out on us," she said, all amusement fading away. "I told myself I wasn't going to forgive you for that, but it seems I really don't have a choice. But I do have a condition, House." It was all or nothing now, and Cameron braced herself for it. "If you stay, it has to be because you love us, and you want to be here. Not out of some mixed up idea of duty or doing the right thing. If you can't do that, if you can't commit to that, then I need you to leave. Right now."

She held her breath, searching his face, and she nearly melted when he wrapped his hands around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. It was soft and sweet, and when he broke away and whispered, "I love you," she nearly missed it under the pounding of her heart in her ears.

"Say it again," she demanded, smiling when he laughed.

"I love you, Cameron. I've loved you since the first time you got all snotty in my office, but I was dead set on not screwing up the rest of your life." He was serious now. "I meant everything I said on that date. I'm too old for you, I'm not a nice person, and I'm damaged. I'm the worst possible choice you could make."

"Are you trying to talk me out of this?" Cameron knew she was beaming like an idiot, but she didn't care. She'd waited years for this moment, most of her adult life, in fact. She was allowed a little idiocy. "You might be a crappy choice, but you're my choice." Pulling back again, she looked at him seriously. "No more silent treatment. No more running. When you're scared, you stay, and we get through it together. That's the only way I can do this, House."

"Okay," he told her, without a second's hesitation.

"That's it? Okay?"

"Well, the way I figure it, you're a LITTLE less screwed up than I am." She couldn't a quick snort of laughter at that. Grinning, he continued, "And god knows you're better at this relationship stuff than I am. So…"

"So that makes me the boss?"

"Something like that." House pulled her in for another kiss, and Cameron went eagerly, soaking up everything she'd missed the last few months. Leaps of faith were big and scary, but sometimes they paid off. Maybe she was crazy, but when House shifted to take her weight off his bad leg but pulled her closer when she would have walked away, she thought this just might be one of those times.

A/N: Almost there I have an epilogue up my sleeve, since I'm a big fan of wondering what happens after happily ever after, but I'd love to hear what you guys think is going to happen next! And as always, thank you for reading.