A/N I promised myself I wouldn't start writing for any more fandoms…but I just couldn't resist when this popped into my mind….this is far from my first venture into fan fiction but it is my first attempt at writing House….hopefully it will be a successful one…this is really different from my usual style of writing so I'm a bit nervous…
No one would have guessed that she would be the first little duckling to venture out on her own. Even Cameron herself wouldn't have believed it if you had asked her a few months prior. She loved her job and her work and had no intention of making any drastic life changes in the near future. Cuddy had even insinuated that there would be an open position for her at PPTH once her contract ran out with House. If you had asked her a few months ago she would have told you that she saw herself carrying out the duration of her career in Princeton.
But, of course, that was a few months ago.
Now she was attending her own farewell party.
It had all happened so quickly that her head was still spinning. It was only three short weeks ago that she received the call from the prestigious Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, a world class disease research center right outside of San Diego that was at the forefront of finding cures for the some of the worlds deadliest diseases. The pay wasn't great but it was comparable to what she was already making and she wouldn't be working with patients any more, but she would have the opportunity to be on a team that discovered a cure for a disease potentially saving thousands. She would also be working with some of the greatest and smartest doctors and scientists from all over the world as only the elite were invited to Salk. She still wasn't sure why they had called her, something about a paper she wrote.
The only stipulation being that she had to begin work within the month. Knowing she still had a year and half left on her contract with House, she thought that there would be no way that she could take the job, but on a whim decided to bring it up to Cuddy anyways. The Dean of Medicine, who recognized the offer for the once in a lifetime opportunity it was, especially at Cameron's young age, insisted she take the job and told the immunologist that she would handle the legalities.
So here she sat, three weeks later, surrounded by all the friends and acquaintances she had made at the hospital in a combination goodbye/congratulations party, pretending to listen to the story one of the techs from X-ray was telling her. It wasn't that she was being purposely rude, it was just that her mind was on all the things that still had to be done even though her flight for California left the next afternoon.
Most of her belongings were already en route to the west coast to the housing that the Institute had provided for her. There were only a few last things that she had to pack up that she was going to bring on the plane with her. She had already sublet her apartment to a premed student, since she had signed a two year lease only six months prior, and the younger girl was coming over in the morning to take the keys. The past few weeks had been such a flurry of activity that she was simply worn down and not in the mood to be at a party, even if she was the guest of honor.
She slid out of the room knowing no one would really miss her presence. She didn't even know most of the people attending very well and she had already said her private goodbyes to Chase, Foreman, Wilson and Cuddy.
The only person she hadn't had an opportunity to say her farewells to was House. He had been avoiding her ever since he had found out her plans to leave. There were no snarky comments about his lobby art disappearing, no jokes about how he was going to suffer from Chase and Foreman's lack of coffee making abilities, no late night knocks on her door asking her to change her mind. It seemed that he had accepted that she was leaving and was getting a head start on her absence from his life.
Even though she was exhausted and knew that she should go home and get some rest, she found herself talking the familiar path up to the Diagnostics Department in a fit of sentimentality. She walked into the dark conference room where she had sat through so many differential sessions not bothering to turn on the lights. She ran her hand along the cool glass table top and let the memories wash over her. She took a moment to take in the room for what she realized was most likely the last time before walking over to the infamous white board. She picked up on of the sacred markers and wrote a simple Goodbye House, Cameron before she turned to take her leave.
She took one last glance at her boss's darkened office and almost missed the glow from his iPod screen. She was surprised to see it having figured that he had let hours ago. She crossed over to the door and let herself in, not bothering to knock. He was facing away from her with his feet propped up looking out the darkened window and made no move to acknowledge her presence as she stood in front of his desk.
She made no attempt to start a conversation and neither did he. They stood only a few feet from each other, but in their mutual silence might as well have made it thousands of miles. And after tomorrow it would be. It was a with a small tired sigh that she shook her head and turned to leave. To walk out of House's office and life forever.
Her hand was on the door when she heard it. A few notes played on a guitar, she turned around and heard the same notes again. In the time it had taken her to walk to the door House had turned around and placed his iPod into the iHome stereo that resided on his desk. A lump rose in her throat when she immediately recognized the song.
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
They made eye contact as they both listened to the lyrics. They both knew he was not a sentimental man, he wasn't good with putting his emotions into words. But as Cameron looked into his sharp blue eyes no words were necessary, the message was loud and clear.
So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while
At that one line she couldn't help but let out a choked little laugh as it echoed her sentiments exactly and she hoped that House knew that. Even with everything that had happened, all of it, the good, the bad, the laughter, the tears, the life, the death, all of it had been worth it. And as he looked into her warm green eyes, he knew.
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
I hope you had the time of your life.
As the last note sounded the office fell back into silence, but they could both here the song reverberating in their minds. After a long silent moment Cameron thought that was it and turned once more to leave, not wanting to ruin the moment with any of the cliché platitudes that she knew he despised.
Instead, much to her surprise, it was he who broke the companionable silence. He asked her how she was getting home since he knew that her car was already being shipped across the country. She replied that she was going to call a cab. He offered to drive her home, which after only a moment of hesitation, she accepted.
They fell back into silence as they he gathered up his things, she already wearing her coat and holding her purse, and they remained silent as they walked out of the hospital together and drove to Cameron's apartment. She was only partly surprised when instead of simply dropping her off, he got out of the car and walked her to the door.
As she unlocked her door for what would be the last time, she was going to make some kind of banal joke about how she would invite him in for coffee except that she didn't have a coffee maker, but she never got that far. When she turned around to speak, her
words were muffled by his lips covering hers in a very sudden, insistent kiss. His hands held her face firmly in place as she stiffened against him in shock.
And as quickly as it had started, it ended as he pulled back, breathing hard his eyes brighter than she had ever seen them. Cameron stared at him in disbelief, her mind not quite able to process what had just happened. The look on House's face showed that he was as surprised as she was. It had happened so fast and so suddenly that for a moment she believed that she might had imagined it, but the burning feeling left on her lips suggested otherwise.
For the first time in all the years she had known him, Cameron could see something akin to fear and uncertainty in House's eyes and it almost scared her. Greg House was always in control of every situation, it's part of what made House, House. The fact that he so clearly had no idea what he was doing, made her feel like she was loosing grip of the only thing that kept her grounded, but she couldn't deny the tingling feeling that was quickly spreading to her every extremity.
Don't do it! Her mind screamed even as her body moved forward. Every rational thought inside of her was telling her to make a quick escape into her apartment and lock the door behind her. She was over House, she had long since removed those feelings from her life, she was moving across the country in less than twenty four hours. She needed to be out of this situation before he drudged up old feelings long buried, she needed to escape before he could hurt her again. Meanwhile every instinct in her body was telling her, begging her, ordering her, to throw all caution to the wind.
After a moment of silent debate she answered herself as she did the only thing that made sense. She slid her hands up around to the back of his neck and brought his lips crashing back down to hers.
House moaned and slid his arms around her, backing her into the wall. The sexual tension that always seemed to simmer between them no matter how hard they both tried to snuff it exploded into a raging inferno, and there was only one conceivable way to put it out. They kissed with a sense of urgency and desperation, running their hands over each other greedily, all the while trying to keep their sanity within reach.
Cameron moaned as he made his way down her neck, nibbling in various places along the cords of her throat, his stubble creating a painful kind of pleasure as it scratched along her delicate skin sending a shiver down her spine.
House pressed himself into her, making both of them groan from the friction it caused in their lower regions. Cameron could feel his growing arousal which caused her own familiar tightening in her lower stomach. She frantically searched behind her for the doorknob to let them in. She continued to kiss him hungrily as they stumbled over the threshold, their breaths coming out in sharp rasps as their need for air came second to the all consuming need to kiss each other.
Keys, canes and purses were quickly dropped inside the door as they staggered across the empty living room, making their way to the bedroom, where the one of last pieces of furniture left in the apartment, which she had sold to the new tenet, resided. Nimble doctor's hands made quick work of buttons, snaps, and zippers and by the time they had reached the bed they had been removed of all vestiges of clothing.
As they collapsed on the bed the tempo of their dance changed. It was as if neither of them believed that the other wasn't going anywhere until they were both naked and horizontal clinging to each other frantically. But now the fire was now burning slower yet hotter.
There was still a note of desperation, but no longer was it frantic. Instead their actions were driven by a need savor, to commit every action, every touch, every sensation, every feeling to memory. Worshiping hands and exploratory lips seemed to be everywhere at once as moans, endearments, proclamations, and exclamations were offered and simultaneously lost to the night.
They took their time, learning each others bodies, making it last for a life time, as they knew it would have to. And once he did sink down into her they made eye contact which they continued to hold as they rocked together, never taking their eyes of the other. Release was bittersweet as it meant a satisfactory end, an end neither of them wished to ever reach.
Limbs remained entangled as they lay side by side, the light from the streetlamp their only illumination. Fingers caressed satiated countenances and ran through the soft hairs at the nape of necks. Eyes remained locked in a silence that said more than any words could have. Words were arbitrary groupings of consonants and vowels that at this moment would have simply gotten in the way.
Eyes fluttering open came as a surprise as their owners did not recall them closing. When their eyes met, both knew that the other was awake, but neither of them spoke or made any move to separate themselves from the other as they breathed in tandem. There was no morning caresses or uttered endearments, just skin to skin contact and gazes that were locked on each other saying everything that needed to be said. Their limbs remained entangled as they had been throughout the night as if even their subconscious knew that they had to take advantage of and savor the connection as it would soon come to an end.
In the magical pre dawn hours of the morning, it almost felt like this could last forever. As they gazed at each other there was no need for Vicodin, no planes to catch, no sarcastic jabs, no jobs in California, no past, no future, just them, just now.
It was House who was the first to speak, breaking the spell the morning light had cast as the sun rose higher in the sky. He informed her that he would take her to the airport, rather than offering and she simply nodded her compliance.
And it was over, the fragile yet vibrant connection was broken. They awkwardly stumbled through morning routines, she retrieved his pills, which he took as she got in the shower. She came out dressed and he took his turn as she finished packing the last of her belongings. He stood by silently as the student came by to retrieve the keys and Cameron told her all the quirks about the apartment and the building, warning her against the talkative man on the third floor who liked to corner you at the mail boxes and chew your ear for hours. They endured a silent lunch at a deli near the airport, but it was a different kind of silence than the one they had shared earlier. There was no silent messages being passed, making the atmosphere lonely as they say mere feet from each other. They sat next to each other in uncomfortable airport chairs as they waited for the inevitable moment where her flight would be called.
"Why?" she asked simply, turning to face him and looking him in the eye for the first time since that morning.
Both knew it wasn't the deceivingly simple question it seemed to be. That one word held a multitude of meanings. He knew it wasn't a request for a single answer, but that it was a plethora of questions that would continue to be and always remain unspoken. They didn't need to be spoken, he could read them in her eyes. Why did he have to be such a stubborn bastard? Why had he pushed her away? Why did he choose now to reach out to her? Now that he had taken her hand why wasn't he holding on? Why was he letting her go?
"I don't know," he replied with a feeble shrug of his shoulders. He knew it was inadequate but it was also the truth, there was no satisfactory answer to give her, or even to give himself.
Silence feel over them once more until the boarding of Cameron's flight was announced over the intercom. With a slight nod of her head she stood to leave, but was stopped by a hand reaching out and grabbing her wrist. She turned back around to face with mild surprise, but also curiosity alit in her eyes, unsure why he was holding her back. As far as she was concerned they were finished.
He stood and took one hobbled step towards her, closing the space between them and brought a hand up to cup her cheek. He leaned forward bringing his lips to hers, placing a single tender, sweet, chaste kiss on her lips before leaning his forehead on hers, still cradling her face softly.
"Goodbye Allison," he whispered against her lips. But it was more than goodbye, it was I love you, I'll miss you, I'm sorry.
A single tear ran down her porcelain cheek until it was wiped away gently by a calloused thumb. It was the first time he had ever used her first name and it cut her to the core.
"Goodbye Greg," she returned, knowing that she meant I love you too, I'll never stop missing you, I forgive you and most of all, thank you.
This time is was her turn to bring a hand up to his scruffy cheek, she let it linger there for only a moment before it dropped heavily to her side. She then picked up her carry on bag and without another word turned and walked away, never looking back.
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
AN So what did you all think of my first venture into the House fandom? Was it good enough to try a couple more ideas I have floating around my head? This was an experiment in writing for me as most of my stuff tends to be very dialogue driven so with this I wanted to really ration the dialogue and instead use it for impact at the end…I'm not sure if it was successful yet….Oh and in case anyone was wondering Salk is an actual place and is pretty amazing…I went there for a field trip a couple months back….I also have an idea for a sequel/continuation to this one shot, so let me know if you think its worth continuing…. It would be a happier continuation cause this kind of sad ending kills me….so let me know what you think!