Hey everyone!
So, this idea kind of came to me in an instant, and what do you know, 2 days later, it's finished.
It's kinda fluffy, kinda random, not angst-y at all, so if that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere.
I hope y'all enjoy it!
Oh, and by the way (kind of relates to the story, promise), if you've never seen The Princess Bride, or I Am Sam, I suggest you do so A-sap. They're very good movies.
---
Knock. Knock. Knock.
House sat up quickly from his couch and hobbled over to the front door. Leaning heavily on his cane, he opened the door with his left hand, smirking slightly at the sight in front of him.
Allison Cameron stood at the threshold of the door, weighed down by two plastic bags she was holding, one in each hand. Her hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail, her cheeks slightly flushed from the effort of carrying her belongings up the stairs to House's apartment. In her mouth she held a small paperback book, and as House blocked her way into his apartment, all she could do was glare.
"Mmph."
"Sorry, didn't quite catch that." House's smirk became wider as Cameron gave him a look of indignation. He reached out and pulled the book out from between her teeth.
"I said, move," she said, gesturing with a sweeping motion of her hands that she wants him to step aside.
"Well that's not a very nice way to treat a host," he said sardonically, but stepped out of her way all the same, following her with his eyes as she made her way to his kitchen. He shut the door with a snap and limped over to where Allison was currently standing, sending a curious look at the two plastic bags that were thrown haphazardly on his counter.
"Let's see, I brought chips, popcorn, pretzels, and beer," she told him, pulling each out of the bag on his right as she named them.
"Didn't know you were a beer girl," House commented, smirking.
"And in this bag, I have my movies." She grinned at him, rolling her eyes as he pouted.
"You said I could pick the movie!"
"I was just... bringing some extra choices."
House sighed dramatically and grabbed the bag. He walked over to the couch and plopped heavily down on one end, and Cameron followed him, taking a seat next to him on the couch.
"Let's see what we've got here..." He opened the bag and pulled out the DVD that laid on top of the small pile.
"Titanic?" House gave her a look of disgust.
"Hey, it's a good movie," she said reproachfully.
"Yeah, and incredibly sappy, not to mention extremely long. I'll be dead before we reach part two."
Allison sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. "Oookay, we've established that we're not watching Titanic." She gestured toward the bag, urging him to keep looking.
He pulled out another DVD. "I Am Sam?" he said, raising his eyebrows slightly. She smiled. "I didn't know you liked that movie."
"One of my favorites," she said softly.
"Yeah... well, it's a bit too serious, at least for tonight. I'm in the mood for something lighter."
She nodded towards the bag. "Keep looking then."
House pulled out the next DVD in the bag. "The Princess Bride..." He scoffed. "Is this one of those cliché fairy tale Cinderella movies? 'Cause if it is, I refuse to watch it."
She laughed lightly, grabbing the DVD from his hands and flipping it over to read the back to him. "Scaling the Cliffs of Insanity, battling Rodents of Unusual Size, facing torture in The Pit of Despair - True love is never easy." She looked up from the movie cover to see him still looking at her with the same skepticism as before. "Trust me. It's really good. It's ... different. Unorthodox. Quirky. Funny. Any of these qualities jumping out at you?"
He snatched the DVD out of her hands and flipped it over, glancing at the pictures of the different characters on the back. "Who's that guy?" he asked, pointing to a short balding man who looking like he had one-too-many cups of coffee.
"You'll see if you watch it," Cameron answered, her eyes twinkling mischievously at the hint of annoyance that crossed his features. House sighed.
"Fine. We'll watch it. But next time, we're watching one of my movies. Deal?"
"Alright." She got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" House asked, bewildered, as she began opening and closing cupboards at random.
"Looking for a bowl. Mind helping me out?"
"How big of a bowl?" he said, raising his voice a bit as she ducked beneath the counter out of sight.
"Popcorn bowl?"
"Bottom left, under the sink."
House started when his phone began to ring, and consequently heard a loud thump from the kitchen, followed by a cry of pain.
"You alright?" House stood up from his position on the couch and limped over to Cameron, who stood up slowly, clutching the back of her head. She looked up at him with slightly watery eyes.
"Yeah, fine. Go answer the damn phone," she snapped.
"Oh, testy tonight, aren't we?" he jabbed, but picked up the phone anyway. "Yeah?" he called as a greeting to the other end.
"House."
"Ah, Jimmy. Why are you calling me on this fine Friday night?"
"I'm bored. Wanna go get drinks?"
"And your wife is...?"
"Out. With friends. I've got nothing to do," Wilson said grumpily.
House sighed. "I can't. I've... got company."
A beat. "Really." There was a bite of skepticism in Wilson's voice.
"Yeah, really." He paused. "You don't believe me?"
"Um, actually, no. Since when do you get company on Friday nights that doesn't involve the inability to answer the phone?"
"Since now," he snapped irritably. He sighed again. Wilson listened closely as he heard a somewhat far-off voice gruffly say, "Say hi to Jimmy before he talks my ear off with his skepticism."
Cameron rolled her eyes and yelled, "Hey Wilson!" enthusiastically.
House put the phone back up to his ear and waited for the reaction he knew was bound to come...
"That... that wasn't Cameron?" Wilson exclaimed, not bothering to hide the disbelief.
"No, that was Angelina Jolie. But you know, now that you mention it, she does sound a lot like Cameron..."
"House–"
"Gotta go, the movie's about to start," he interrupted as Cameron poured all the snacks into the giant plastic bowl she had found. She brought it over to the coffee table in front of the couch, then doubled back to get their drinks, signaling House to hurry it up.
"Have fun. But not too much." Wilson's tone was cautious, but playful.
"Yes, Daddy. I'll have her home by one." Click.
"You done over there?" Cameron called from the kitchen. He walked over to her as she opened his beer can, taking a sip before handing it to him.
"Ew, cooties! You got lipstick stains all over the rim! And you have your own!" He pouted.
"Mine wasn't open yet. I'm sure you'll live." She smirked at him.
They walked over to the couch side-by-side; he sat down while she made her way toward the DVD player and put the disk in. Placing her drink on the table, she walked back over to the couch, taking a seat next to House.
Yawning in an exaggerated, none-too-subtle way, he stretched his arms above his head, his left landing around Cameron's shoulders as it came back down. She grinned at his antics and raised her eyebrows slightly, but he just feigned innocence and focused his attention instead on a particularly interesting spot on the ceiling. She shook her head softly in an amused sort of way, but nevertheless nestled herself comfortably into his side, her head resting on his shoulder.
---
As the ending credits of the movie rolled over the screen, House discovered that he was smiling in spite of himself. So the farm-boy and the princess ended up together after all. Really, it wasn't what he expected it to be. Sure, it was a bit cliché, but what other fairy tale had huge rodents that looked like over-sized rats, and creepy albinos, and Billy Crystal? He had to admit, Cameron had good taste in movies. Speaking of Cameron...
He looked down at her head that was resting on his shoulder, and noticed that her eyes were closed. She was asleep.
"Cameron?" he whispered softly, using his right hand to gently shake her shoulder.
"Mmm..." was all she managed to say, swatting weakly at his general vicinity.
"The movie's over," he told her quietly. "Come on, I'll make you a cup of tea if you get up."
"Oh, don't tease," she said sleepily. Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she cupped a hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn. He chuckled softly and stood up from the couch, limped over to the kitchen, and began busying himself by putting a kettle of water on the stove.
"So, did you like the movie?" she asked from the couch, stretching her arms over her head.
He grunted.
"Oh, that tells me a whole lot," Cameron answered sarcastically as she followed in his footsteps. She walked over to the kitchen and leaned her forearms on the edge of the counter, across from him. "No, honestly. Did you like it?" she asked again with a small smile on her face.
"It was... quirky," he said cryptically.
She chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you can describe it that way."
"Always a happy ending with you, isn't it?" he jabbed jokingly.
She rolled her eyes, sufficiently ignoring him. Her eyes widened in gratification as he placed her steaming mug of tea in front of her.
"Mm, thank you." She wrapped her slim hands around the red mug he handed her, one that remarkably mirrored the coffee mug he has at work, and inhaled the steam rising from it before taking a long sip. "I thought you didn't like tea?"
"I don't," he answered as he poured the remaining hot water into a mug of his own.
"Then why are you–" She stopped mid-sentence as House reached into a cupboard and pulled out a little white bag. He shook it in front of her face and she smiled.
"Hot cocoa. With marshmallows." He smirked at her.
"I should've guessed..." she said with a slight shake of the head. Cameron angled her wrist towards her and glanced at her watch. She frowned. "It's already 10:30."
"What, you gotta go beddy-bye by 11?" House said sardonically, raising an eyebrow.
Cameron bit her lip softly, looking into her nearly-empty mug of tea. "No, I have visitors coming tomorrow, and I don't wanna be exhausted when they show up." She looked up at House to see his blue eyes boring into hers intensely. "What?"
"Who?"
"What do you mean, 'who'?"
"I mean, who's coming over your house that's so important that you need a full night's rest to prepare for them?"
Cameron raised her eyebrows slightly at his sudden outburst. "My cousin, and her two-year-old, who takes up a lot of energy to look after... Why?"
House finally dropped his gaze, settling instead on staring at his mug. "Because... I don't really want to be alone on a Saturday night when I don't have to be."
"Sorry," she said softly.
"I blame the cousin. Especially the kid. But not you."
She smiled softly, and glanced at her watch again. She took another long sip of her tea, finishing the remaining liquid, and took the mug over to the sink. Turning around to face House, she spoke. "Thank you."
She began walking slowly towards the door, and House followed her with a slightly puzzled look on his face. "For what?"
She stopped when she reached the door and turned to face him. "For everything. The invite, the tea... everything. It was... nice." She smiled softly at him. He raised his eyes slightly in surprise, and nodded curtly.
"You're welcome."
Still smiling, Cameron stood on her tippy-toes and leaned into him, her lips meeting his in a soft, sweet kiss. She placed a hand on his cheek, her thumb caressing the rough stubble, and he leaned forward slightly, placing a hand on her hip. But as soon as it had started, it ended, as Cameron pulled away, still smiling.
"Bye, Greg," she said softly, her smile widening as she noticed his surprise at the use of his first name.
"Bye... Allison."
She opened the door slowly and walked out, stealing a backwards glance at him before turning the corner. And as he watched her walk away, he couldn't help but think that happily ever after wasn't as difficult as everyone made it out to be.
---
You know the deal, read, then review! Please and thank you!