I Own Nothing…Except this fic

Watching the young immunologist working at her desk, Doctor Greg House realised that this was the third night is a row that he had left before her. Now this in itself wasn't unusual, seeing as he tried to leave the hospital as soon as he could. The problem was that for the past three days, he had been covering for another doctor with one of their patients, which meant later nights finishing their paperwork.

House was never one to do something so generous without getting something back in return. Cuddy had promised him two whole weeks without clinic duty, so long as he stayed on top of the paperwork. So here he was, sitting here doing the last of the work, and then he would be gone.

The part that was puzzling him was why Cameron was still here. Her paperwork wasn't urgent, and could easily have been finished in the morning. Glancing down at his watch, House noticed that it was approaching ten pm, and most normal people would leave last bits of charts until the morning.

House continued to watch her, and noticed for the first time, the dark smudges under her eyes, the droop to her shoulders, and the utter exhaustion that seemed to seep from every fibre of her being. She looked so vulnerable, and he was confused as to what was wrong.

He watched as she slumped her head onto the table, and he knew that she couldn't have stayed awake another moment. Sighing, he walked out to her, and covered her with a blanket, deciding to head into his office and play on his PSP until she awoke, and then he would talk to her, and find out what was wrong.

Realising that this may take a while, Greg House settled back into his chair, took out his IPod and PSP and waited.

Warmth. That was the first thing Allison Cameron felt. The second was the confusion as to where she was, and to what had awoken her. Slowly opening her eyes and sitting up, she became aware of three things. 1- She was still at the hospital, 2- it was late and 3- Continuous beeping was the source of what had caused her to wake up. She then realised that the beeping was coming from House's office, which could only mean one thing. He was still here. She groaned…

House had seen the slight movement as Cameron began to wake up, and watched with interest. Hearing her groan, he realised she knew he was still here, and he smirked.

He got out of his chair and walked towards the beautiful woman. She was watching his progress across the room silently and smiling slightly in greeting. But he knew this was a façade, the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Good morning sleepy head, rest well?" House grinned at her, and watched as she looked for the time. She gasped and her eyes widened as it was indeed morning. 1.30 am to be precise. "Why are you still here?"

Straight to the point then Cameron thought. She gave him a funny look, pushing her brown curls away from her face as she did so, replying "Why are you?"

"Touché" was the only answer. They settled into a silence with one watching the other. In that time Cameron's mind wondered back to a night 5 years ago, when he husband had still been alive- just…

They had been arguing about his treatment. He was getting weaker, and the doctors had said there was nothing they could do. Except give him relief for the pain coursing through his body due to the cancer.

Cameron had refused to give up. How could she? The 'love of her life' was going to die. She spent night after night searching the internet for the best doctors in the country. And finally she had seen his name. Dr Gregory House, M.D. and after reading up on his history, she knew he wouldn't say no. Elated, she had run back to the bedroom to tell the good news, but he was gone. She had failed him. There was crying, and at his funeral she couldn't bring herself to read the speech she had prepared. But after the tears there was anger. How dare he die! How dare she have to struggle alone! And the worst of all, How dare I have left him to die alone!

House had been about to say something when her expression had changed. She was obviously very deep in thought, and for one awful moment he thought she was going to cry.

And then her expression turned to happiness and quickly back to sadness. But this sadness was worse than the first one. It was bone deep and crushing to the soul. He could see it in her eyes. The tears began to fall and then the anger. He watched as her fists clenched and unclenched against the table, her face set into angry lines. At the last of her thoughts, a horrified look joined the anger and she cried harder.

Coming out of her thoughts, Cameron realised she was crying, and at that realisation she totally let go. Covering her face with her hands she cried harder than she had in her life.

House had seen her come out of her mind and could only sit and watch her cry for 2 minutes before he couldn't stand it anymore. Getting up and limping over to her, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her slight frame and rubbed her back in soothing circles. Eventually his leg began to ache, so he grabbed a chair to sit down, in the process pulling Cameron out of her chair, and settling her into his lap.

At the sudden movement from her chair, Cameron had stopped crying, but she continued to let House comfort her. It was so rarely he touched anyone, let alone a full blown hug. But his scent was intoxicating, a mixture of spices and something so House that it was unique.

House was shocked at his own actions. He was House! He caused tears, not tried to stop them! So why did it feel so right having her sitting in his lap, nuzzling into his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her. Noticing she wasn't crying anymore, he tilted her chin up, and asked if she was ready to talk…

So, what did you think? Be kind, this is my first House fic! If you like it, and would like me to continue, then please review and I shall xXx Lu xXx