A/N - Okay, so right now I know I should be working on my other fics, but this popped into my head and I had to write it. So basically, House and Cameron are meeting after 10 years because of a promise they made when they were together. It's my first attempt at writing House in the 2nd person ie 'you', 'your' so I hope it's all okay. Italics in the middle are the flashback. This is also going to get very sweet and very fluffy, so if that's not our thing, now is your chance to walk away, but these are the times when we need some good ol' Hameron fluff! Enjoy and please review!!!
Promise me.
You walk along the path that twirls in and out of the trees; past the children's playground, past the ice cream hut and across that little bridge she used to love so much. As you round the corner you long for her to be there even more. You want to see her sitting on that bench more than you've ever wanted anything before. Your cane thumps against the ground in the same monotonous rhythm and it's all you can concentrate on. You don't want to look up in fear that she won't be there. She could have forgotten – it's been 10 years for crying out loud. She could be married, have kids, forgotten all about you.
The light autumn breeze whips around your neck and you shrink a little further into your trench coat. As summer slipped quietly into autumn, all you could do was think about her. She loved autumn; she said it 'brought out the romance in people'. You always thought she was crazy, but in the years you've spent apart, you've realised how right she was. Strolling down leafy streets hand in hand, ever shortening nights spent in front of the fire and lazy, rainy Sundays spent in bed – she was so right.
Once again the path leads out of the trees and when you spot the fountain, you hold your breath as you search for the bench, your bench. Your eyes search desperately through the few people scattered around, looking for her.
And then you see her.
Sitting alone on that bench opposite the fountain, your bench, she wore a red wool beanie covering the back of her head, her red coat wrapped around her and a scarf hanging loosely around her neck. Her long auburn hair blew slightly in the breeze and she tucked it behind her ear as she looked around the park. She still had that glowing skin, those gorgeous cherry lips; but did you really ever expect her to change?
Seeing her again made you think back to that day 10 years ago.
She holds your hand tightly, fingers entwined as she giggles at your joke about female joggers. You love it when you make her laugh.
You cross that little bridge and she makes you stop so she can throw some bread at the ducks. You tease her about acting like a child, but really, you find it adorable; you find her adorable.
It's been 5 glorious months and you've loved every second. At first you kept it a secret, but after a month, you couldn't take the agony of not being able to kiss her at work, and eventually you told her that you wanted others to know. Naturally, she was over the moon and loved being able to be with you as much as you did with her. Wilson lectured, Cuddy warned, Foreman congratulated and Chase glared, but you were happy. She would stay over at yours a few nights a week and the other few you would stay at hers and you both got caught up in a whirlwind romance you never thought you'd experience again. The truth was you loved her. You loved her more than anything in the world, but you had never told her.
One of the things you loved most was the lazy days you spent together. Sometimes you went out, sometimes you stayed in, but what she loved the most, was walking in the park with you. She knew you couldn't walk far, but just once round the park was enough for her and she never asked for anything, so the least you could do was walk with her. You came to love it too, and it became a regular part to your week. Secretly, you wished you did it more often.
You do the normal things: you watch and tease as she feeds the ducks; you smile as she coos at the children in the playground and you sit on that bench, your bench. She links her arm through yours and you hold her hand, your fingers interlocking as you stroke your thumb across her knuckles. Then, out of the blue, she asks you a question.
"Promise me something," she says, and you look down at her, waiting for her to continue. "Promise me that in 10 years time, if for whatever reason we're not together, promise me that we'll meet. Right here, on this day, on this bench, we'll meet."
She looks up at you and you smile. For some reason you don't even want to think about not being together, but you can't help but smile at her.
"Promise me, Greg," she whispers and you lean down to kiss her lips softly.
"I promise," you say and kiss her again; the gentlest kiss you've ever given her.
She smiles and curls back into your body, her hand tightening its grip on yours.
"I promise," you repeat again, this time in a whisper as you kiss her hair.
A month after that, you split. You can't even remember why. Probably because you were an asshole or you'd done or said something stupid or insensitive. You always fucked things up. The one good thing in your life, the one reason why you got up in the mornings, the one thing that made life a little more bearable and you threw it away. You've never forgiven yourself.
It ripped your world apart. She left Princeton Plainsboro and apart from a few cards at Christmas, you never heard from her again. Of course there were times you thought about finding her and going to see her and telling her that you were a bastard. It was what you wanted; it was probably what she wanted. But no, your stupid male pride got in the way and you convinced yourself and everyone around you that you didn't care. But you thought about her everyday and you always regretted one thing more than anything else: you never told her you loved her.
You take a deep breath and then slowly limp up to her. When you near the bench, you stop and look at her.
"Hi Alison," you say in that deep voice of yours. She turns her head quickly and gasps when she sees you. Tears spring to her eyes and you smile gently at her.
"Greg," she breathes, getting up off the bench and throwing her arms around you.
You sigh, closing your eyes as you wrap your arms around her waist and rest your chin on her shoulder. She buries her head in your neck and you can feel her hot tears on your skin. After a moment you pull back and look at her, smiling softly as you wipe away her tears with your thumb.
"How are you, Alison?" you ask quietly and she laughs, tears running down her face as she reaches out and touches your stubbled cheek.
"I'm great," she laughs, almost as if she's unable to believe you are here. "It's so good to see you, Greg,"
"It's good to see you too,"
She quickly wipes her eyes and leads you over to the bench. As you sit, she turns her body so she's facing you and you can't take your eyes off her. She looks amazing. Of course, she's gotten older, heck she must be nearing 40 now, but she carries it with such grace. Her age shows slightly in her eyes but they still shine just as brightly as you remember. When she catches your eye she blushes. You smile; pleased you can still make her do that.
"You look amazing," you say quietly and she blushes again.
"Thank you," she says "You're looking pretty good yourself,"
You smile and lean back against the bench.
"Heck you don't look a day over 55," she says teasingly, knowing you are only 54.
"Hey, less of the old jokes, thank you," you tease back and just like that you're both back to how you used to be; teasing and joking.
"So," she says "What have you been-"
She doesn't get any further.
"Don't do that, Alison. Please don't do that."
She looks confused.
"Don't pretend like we're old school friends meeting up after 10 years. I don't want to spend today going on about what we've been doing or what's been happening at the hospital, or how everyone is."
She looks hurt and you immediately feel bad.
"What do you want then, Greg?" she says, her voice wavering.
You take her hands in yours and look right into her eyes. You know that it's now or never.
"I want to spend today telling you how much I've missed you. I want to spend today apologising for what a bastard I was to you 10 years ago. I want to spend today discovering you all over again; finding out how you've changed and how you're still the same."
Tears are running down her cheeks again, hopefully this time happy tears. You look down at your joined hands and take a deep breath before looking up at her hopeful face again.
"But most importantly," you say quietly "I want to spend today telling you how much I love you, how much I've always loved you and how much I always will love you."
She flings her arms around your neck, sobbing into your shoulder. You rub her back soothingly and stroke her hair like you always used to.
After a moment or two, she pulls back and looks at you with a tear and mascara stained face, but to you, she has never been more beautiful. She kisses you on the mouth and you mentally breathe a sigh of relief as you feel her lips on yours for the first time in 10 long years.
"I love you," she whispers and you grin at her, the sound of those words falling from her lips caressing your ears and warming your soul.
You don't reply, you just kiss her smile.
"Will you come back to mine?" you ask and she beams at you.
"Of course," she replies.
"But we have to do something first," you say.
"What's that?"
You reach into your pocket and pull out a quarter of a loaf of bread wrapped in that plastic bag.
She laughs when she sees the stale bread and as you stand to walk over to feed the ducks again, you slip your free hand into her palm and hold on tightly.
Sometimes, one promise can change your life forever.
thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed it and I'd love it so much if you reviewed and told me what you thought! Much love! :)